Thursday 11 December 2008

Water lily and Lotus

Are water lily and lotus similar? How do I tell if it is a water lily or lotus? These are the few frequently asked questions when one bumps into water lily/lotus. Actually, water lily and lotus are quite different plants, and they are from different plant families! Water lily is clasified under family Nymphaeaceae whereas lotus is classified under family Nelumbonaceae. But how do we differentiate water lily from lotus? Actually, the easiest way is by looking into the leaf shape. Lotus has complete round leaf, but water lily has round leaf with radical notch.

Postal authorities of Australia and Thailand had a joint issue on 6 August, 2002. Both the countries issued a lotus (Nelumbo nucifera) and a water lily(Nymphaea immutablis) stamps.

Nelumbo nucifera

Nymphaea immutablis

Nelumbo nucifera

Nymphaea immutablis