Lotus : The lotus (family of Nelumbonaceae - Botanical name: Nelumbo nucifera Gaertn.), also known as the sacred lotus, nélombo is native to Southeast Asia, northern Australia and America. It is a perennial aquatic plant. In its natural habitat, it can be an obstacle to navigation because the plant spreads quickly, from the rhizome. The remarkable leaves of the lotus are round and can measure up to 60cm in diameter. They emerge from the water and unfold little by little in the spring to often reach more than a meter in height. The flowers come in summer, rising up to a foot above the water. They slowly unfold their large corollas of a pinkish white, soft and pure, very delicately scented. They open at daybreak and close in the evening. When the petals fall, the fruit appears, green, in the shape of a watering can, which will dry up and turn dark brown. It contains a large quantity of seeds, oblong, of the same color. The foliage dries up in the fall. Dried fruits are used in the composition of bouquets of dried flowers. The lotus is an important spiritual symbol in Buddhism; it represents the compassion and the creative power as well as the knowledge which will make it possible to reach the nirvana progressively of the reincarnations.
Among the Hindus, Brahma, the great creator, was born from a lotus flower. The seeds, of mild flavor, and the rhizome are edible (in salads or cooked) and are rich in starch. The seeds can be roasted and eaten like peanuts. Boiled like cereals, they taste like corn.