Lotuses at the Meise Botanical Gardens

One of the other water plants in the Victoria House of the Plant Palace of the Meise Botanical Gardens is the lotus.

Lotus, Nelumbo nucifera

I will be adding more details about the lotus in terms of symbolism, use and so on.

Genus Name: Nymphaea

Common names: Lotus, Indian Lotus, Sacred Lotus, Bean of India (English) ; Lotus sacré,
Lotus d'Orient (French); Heilige lotus, Indische lotus (Dutch); Indische Lotosblume (German); fior di loto asiatico(Italian); (Spanish): loto sagrado, loto indio, rosa del Nilo (Spanish); lótus, flor-de-lótus, loto-índico e lótus-índico (Portuguese);

Taxonomic hierarchy: 

Kingdom: Plantae - Plants

Subkingdom: Viridaeplantae – Green plants

Infrakingdom: Streptophyta – Land plants

Division: Tracheophyta – Vascular plants

Subdivision: Spermatophytina – Spermatophytes (seed plants)

Infradivision: Angiospermae – Angiosperms (flowering plants)

Class: Magnoliopsida –

Superorder: Proteanae –

Order: Proteales –

Family: Nelumbonaceae –

Genus: Nelumbo – 

Species: Nelumbo nucifera  –

Notes: 

• I am using the taxonomical classification system used by ITIS (Intergrated Taxonomic Information System). I have decided to use this system in order to avoid confusion as well as because it offers a comprehensive hierarchy from kingdom right through to subspecies whereas other sources only go as far as order or  provide the names of some of the higher taxonomical ranks but only indicate "unclassified" rather than providing the rank.
• When and where possible I will endeavour to include alternatives classifications although  I may limit this to occasions where an opportunity arises to discuss the reason for the different classifications.
• Taxonomical data used in this post was retrieved [September 9th 2014], from the Integrated Taxonomic Information System on-line database, http://www.itis.gov.

References:


On-line sources:

• Royal Horticultural Society: Entry for Nelumbo nucifera: Sacred Lotus
• Official Website of the: Meise Botanical Gardens
• Integrated Taxonomic Information System on-line database: Entry for Nelumbo nucifera
• Wikipedia: Entry for Nelumbo nucifera
• Wikipedia: Entry for Nelumbo
• Wikipedia: Entry for Lotus effect

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