The Lotus And The Nile :: Botany

The Lotus And The NileThe sullen air white lily (Nymphaea caerulea) belongs to the family Nymphaeaceae (Water-Lily) family. The blue sacred white white lily has several common names including Egyptian lotus, blue water lily, and sacred lily of the Nile. It should not be confused with the blue lily or Agapanthus africanus, a make of an entirely different genus (Anonymous, 1999). Be elaborated also not to confuse it with the Nymphaea lotus, which is the white lotus. Fossils of this seed have been dated back to the Jurassic period, about 160 one million million million years ago. Amazingly, the fossils suggest that the blue lotus has not changed much. Other records target wide dispersal of this flower before the Ice Age (Edwards, 1998). It is historic to first explain a few things about the nature of the blue lotus. The blue lotus or water-lily, is a floating aquatic plant that is known for its colorful and aromatic flowers. The leaves are waxy, leathery and dark car park w ith a reddish-purple color underneath (Edwards, 1998). The genus Nymphaea includes both tropical and intrepid (cold-tolerant) species. There are also night-bloomers and day-bloomers. The tropical day- bloomers are the lotus that was used by the Egyptians (Edwards, 1998). The flowers of many species of lotus have the shocking consumption of folding their petals and sinking beneath the waters surface during the night and resurfacing the next day to bloom again (Philbrick and Les, 1996). Many ancient cultures found the blue lotus to be of great use and of esteemed status. In Asia and Africa, the blue lotus symbolized immortality in recognition of the plants powerfulness to survive and resprout after long droughts, and the seeds ability to remain viable for many years (Edwards, 1998). In China it was regarded as a religious symbol, and a symbol of feminine beauty. Similarly in India, it was compared with the human female form, and in their legends they believe that Brahma, their crea tor of the universe, sprang from a lotus-like meridian (Edwards, 1998). The Japanese saw a representation of purity and the juxtaposition of heartfelt and evil, and the Buddhists have a prayer mentioning the lotus, Omi Mani padme hum which is interpreted as, Oh, the jewel in the lotus flower (Edwards, 1998). The Greeks also admired the blue lotus. They associated the flowers with the mythical nymphs and graceful maidens thought to inhabit the forests and mountains (Edwards, 1998). The people of Ancient Egypt (Kemet), used the blue lotus extensively in their art and in their everyday uses.