Indian Lotus

This huge, exotique water plant is growing profusely at L'étang de Fontmerle, southeast of Mougins. Huge pink flowers, completely covering the little lake (étang), standing up about 1 m, with enormous leaves covering the water completely.
We don't know how they arrived or what got them started, but they are happy with their home here.
Nelumbo nucifera is known by a number of common names, including Sacred Lotus, Red Lotus, Indian Lotus Bean of India and Sacred Water-lily. Botanically, Nelumbo nucifera (Gaertn.) is sometimes known by its former names, Nelumbium speciosum (Willd.), or Nymphaea nelumbo. This plant is an aquatic perennial. In ancient times it was common along the banks of the River Nile in Egypt along with the closely related Sacred Blue Lotus of the Nile (Nymphaea caerulea); and the flowers, fruit and sepals of both were widely depicted as architectural motifs where sacred images were called for. The Pharoic Egyptians venerated the Lotus and used it in worship. From Egypt it was carried to Assyria and became widely planted throughout Persia, India and China. It may also have been locally indiginous throughout Indo-China but there is doubt about this. In 1787 it was first brough into horticulture in Western Europe as a stove-house water-lily under the patronage of Sir Joseph Banks and can be seen in modern botanical garden collections where heating is provided. Today it is rare or extinct in the wild in Africa but widely naturalised in southern Asia and Australia, where it is commonly cultivated in water gardens. It is the National Flower of India.
The roots of Nelumbo nucifera are planted in the soil of the pond or river bottom, while the leaves float on top of the water surface. The flowers are usually found on thick stems rising several centimeters above the water. The plant normally grows up to a height of about 150 cm and a horizontal spread of up to 3 meters, but some unverified reports place the height as high as over 5 meters. The leaves may be as large as 60 cm in diameter, while the showy flowers can be up to 20 cm in diameter.

Lotus - History
Lotus is native to the Midle East, Asia, New Guinea and Australia. It is the most commonly featured flower in South Asian mythology and has featured in many South Asian religions through the ages.
Lotus is native to Iran, India, China, Vietnam to Japan, Malaysia, New Guinea and Australia. It has been held sacred in Asia and the Middle East for over 5000 years.
It has been cultivated since early times, for religious and ornamental purposes. In India it is commonly grown in ponds and tanks for its elegant, sweet-smelling flowers.
Lotus flowers have been used throughout history in South Asia and have been featured in Buddhist and Hindu art, architecture and literature. It was even a symbolically important plant before the religions at the time of the the Indus Valley civilisation.
The flowers became symbolic of immortality and resurrection because people observed that they would grow from the bottom of dried up pools after the monsoon rains.
Despite its early use, it was Buddhism which first brought the lotus symbol to widespread use. Lotus medallions are prominent on the Buddhist places of worship at Sanchi in Madhaya Pradesh and Amaravati in Andhra Pradesh dating from the 2nd century BC to the 2nd century AD.
As Buddhism spread from India to Central Asia and China in the first few centuries AD, lotus flowers were used to represent Buddha. They featured on rosettes, scrolls, motifs and iconography.
The giant leaves of lotus plants were used as plates in ancient India, and its seeds and roots are still considered a delicacy. 11th and 12th century texts noted lotus dishes and feasts in which lotus leaves were consumed.
The lotus became a common feature woven into South Asia's culture. This continued with the advent of Islam in the 12-th century AD. Lotus flowers had ancient connections with Persian culture, so they were already popular motifs on Islamic carpets, textiles and architecture. They feature in intricate patterns on perforated screens, tiles and ceramics.

India's National Flower
The Lotus or water lily is an aquatic plant of Nymphaea with broad floating leaves and bright fragrant flowers that grow only in shallow waters. The leaves and flowers float and have long stems that contain air spaces. The big attractive flowers have many petals overlapping in a symmetrical pattern. The root functions are carried out by rhizomes that fan out horizontally through the mud below the water. Lotuses, prized for their serene beauty, are delightful to behold as their blossoms open on the surface of a pond. In India the sacred lotus is legendary and much folklore and religious mythology is woven around it.