Lotus flowers have been growing for millions of years. In Vietnam, the lotus is classified as one the four gentlemanly flowers along with pine, bamboo, and chrysanthemum.

• Botanical Name: Nelumbo nucifera

• Common Name

  • English: Lotus, Sacred Lotus, Sacred Water-Lily

  • VietNamese: Red Lotus

The lotus is also classified as one in the four qui (four seasons), which also includes orchid, chrysanthemum, and apricot. Lotus is the symbol of summer because it blossoms in summer when there is a lot of sunlight and its scent lightly perfumes the air all around the pond.

Lotus flowers are used in different ways: the flowers are offered to deities, the seeds are used for tea, and the leaves are used to wrap green rice. Lotus seeds can also be made into a tonic medicine and anesthetic and into an ingredient for sweet soup and other recipes.

Lotus flowers generally bloom during the summer since they require plenty of light.

—Viet Nam Tourism

Cover image: 〈Sacred lotus Nelumbo nucifera〉 by T.Voekler, licensed under CC-BY-SA-3.0.

This article was first published on Asean Citizens on 2007-10-31 @365.81 (16:46:46 UTC+8).

〈Viet Nam National Flower: Nelumbo nucifera〉 © 2007 Yohan Yukiya Sese Cuneta.
License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC-BY-SA-4.0), except where noted.