Nelumbo nucifera Gaertn., Nelumbonaceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Common name(s): [more details]

Chinese: lian

English: East Indian lotus, lotus, lotusroot, oriental lotus, sacred lotus

French: fève d'Egypte, lotus indien, lotus sacré

Japanese: hasu

Spanish: loto sagrado, rosa del Nilo

Habit:  aquatic herb

Description:  "Petiole 1-2 m, terete, fistulous, glabrous or papillae hard and scattered; leaf blade abaxially blue-green, orbicular, 25-90 cm in diameter, papery, glabrous, glaucous, water-repellent, margin entire. Flowers 10-23 cm in diameter; peduncles longer than petioles, glabrous or sparsely spinulate. Tepals caducous, pink or white, oblong-elliptic to obovate, 5-10 x 3-5 cm. Stamens slightly longer than receptacle; filament slender; anther linear, 1-2 mm; connective appendage clavate, to 7 mm, incurved. Receptacle accrescent, turbinate, 5-10 cm in diameter. Fruit oblong to ovoid, 1.0-2.0 x 7-15 cm, glabrous; pericarp thick, hardened"  (Flora of China online).

"Leaves: petiole to 2 m or more. Leaf blade to 6 dm or more. Flowers: tepals normally all caducous, pink, pink-tinged, or fading to white, 1-13 cm; anthers 1-2 cm. Fruits ovoid, 10-20 x 7-13 mm, mostly more than 1.5 times longer than wide; receptacle to 1 dm diameter at maturity, gradually tapered or rounded from flattened top to base, base rounded or very slightly obtuse-tapered, lateral surface rugose or only weakly striate." (Flora of North America).

Habitat/ecology:  Aquatic herb.  In Papua New Guinea (native), "a lowland species that occurs in shallow sheltered waters of lakes, usually growing in mud to a depth of up to 2 m.  In favourable conditions it may crowd out other aquatic vegetation"  (Conn, 1995; p. 190).

Propagation:  Seed

Native range:  Tropical and temperate Asia, from Iran eastward to China and Japan, also northern Australia, Papuasia, and widely introduced and established elsewhere" (Howard, 1988; pp. 215-216).

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Cook Islands Southern Cook Islands	Rarotonga Island		McCormack, Gerald (2011)
French Polynesia Society Islands	Raiatea (Havai) Island	introduced cultivated	Florence, J. (2004) (pp. 296-297)
French Polynesia Society Islands	Raiatea (Havai) Island	introduced cultivated	Florence, J./Chevillotte, H./Ollier, C./Meyer, J.-Y. (2011) Cultivée
French Polynesia Society Islands	Tahiti Island	introduced cultivated	Florence, J. (2004) (pp. 296-297)
French Polynesia Society Islands	Tahiti Island	introduced cultivated	Florence, J./Chevillotte, H./Ollier, C./Meyer, J.-Y. (2011) Voucher cited: J. Florence 2640 (PAP) Cultivée
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Hawaiian Islands	introduced cultivated	Staples, George W./Herbst, Derral/Imada, Clyde T. (2000) (p. 25)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	O‘ahu Island	introduced cultivated	Imada, Clyde T./Staples, George W./Herbst, Derral R. (2011) (p. Voucher specimens) Voucher cited: Pearsall s.n. (BISH 615506)
New Caledonia New Caledonia Archipelago	Île Grande Terre	introduced cultivated	MacKee, H. S. (1994) (p. 107) Vouchers cited: MacKee 46073, MacKee 46147
Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (eastern New Guinea Island)	Papua New Guinea (eastern New Guinea Island)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (eastern New Guinea Island)	Papua New Guinea (eastern New Guinea Island)	native	Conn, Barry J., ed. (1995) (pp. 190-191)
Philippines Philippine Islands	Philippine Islands	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Philippines Philippine Islands	Philippine Islands	probably introduced invasive abo. intro.	Merrill, Elmer D. (1923) (p. 140) In shallow lakes, locally very abundant; probably and introduced plant, but if so of prehistoric introduction.

Pacific Rim
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Australia Australia (continental)	Northern Territory	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Australia Australia (continental)	Queensland	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Cambodia Cambodia	Cambodia (Kingdom of)		Waterhouse, D. F. (1993) (p. 67)
China China	China (People's Republic of)	native cultivated	Zhengyi, Wu/Raven, Peter H./Deyuan, Hong (2011) "Lakes, ponds, cultivated".
China China	Hong Kong	native	Wu, Te-lin (2001) (p. 51)
Indonesia Indonesia	Indonesia (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Japan Japan	Japan (country)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
North Korea North Korea	North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
South Korea South Korea	South Korea (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Malaysia Malaysia	Malaysia (country of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Singapore Singapore	Singapore (Republic of)	introduced cultivated	Chong, Kwek Yan/Tan, Hugh T. W./Corlett, Richard T. (2009) (p. 63) Cultivated only
Taiwan Taiwan	Taiwan Island	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Thailand Thailand	Thailand (Kingdom of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Vietnam Vietnam	Vietnam (Socialist Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)

Additional information:
Additional online information about Nelumbo nucifera is available from the Hawaiian Ecosystems at Risk project (HEAR).

Information about Nelumbo nucifera as a weed (worldwide references) may be available from the Global Compendium of Weeds (GCW).

Taxonomic information about Nelumbo nucifera may be available from the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN).

References:

Chong, Kwek Yan/Tan, Hugh T. W./Corlett, Richard T. 2009. A checklist of the total vascular plant flora of Singapore: native, naturalised and cultivated species. Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research, National University of Singapore. 273 pp.

Conn, Barry J., ed. 1995. Handbooks of the flora of Papua New Guinea, vol. 3. Melbourne University Press, Melbourne. 292 pp.

Flora of North America Editorial Committee, eds. 2011. Flora of North America North of Mexico (online edition).

Florence, J. 2004. Flore de la Polynésie française, Vol. 2. Paris. IRE Editions, Publications Scientifiques, Collection Faune et Flore Tropicales 41. 503 pp.

Florence, J./Chevillotte, H./Ollier, C./Meyer, J.-Y. 2011. Base de données botaniques Nadeaud de l'Herbier de la Polynésie Française (PAP). (online resource).

Howard, Richard A. 1988. Flora of the Lesser Antilles: Leeward and Windward Islands. Vol. 4, Dicotyledoneae-Part 1. Arnold Arboretum, Harvard University. 673 pp.

Imada, Clyde T./Staples, George W./Herbst, Derral R. 2011. Annotated Checklist of Cultivated Plants of Hawai‘i (online searchable database).

MacKee, H. S. 1994. Catalogue des plantes introduites et cultivées en Nouvelle-Calédonie. Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, 164 p.

McCormack, Gerald. 2011. Cook Islands Biodiversity Database, Version 2007.2. Cook Islands Natural Heritage Trust, Rarotonga.

Merrill, Elmer D. 1923. An enumeration of Philippine flowering plants, vol. 2 [reprint]. Bureau of Printing, Manila. 530 pp.

Staples, George W./Herbst, Derral/Imada, Clyde T. 2000. Survey of invasive or potentially invasive cultivated plants in Hawai‘i. Bishop Museum Occasional Papers No. 65. 35 pp.

Stemmermann, Lani. 1981. A guide to Pacific wetland plants. U. S. Army Corps of Engineers, Honolulu District. 118 pp.

U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. 2011. National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Online searchable database.

Waterhouse, D. F. 1993. The major arthropod pests and weeds of agriculture in Southeast Asia. The Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research, Canberra. 141 pp.

Welsh, S. L. 1998. Flora Societensis: A summary revision of the flowering plants of the Society Islands. E.P.S. Inc., Orem, Utah. 420 pp.

Wu, Te-lin. 2001. Check List of Hong Kong Plants. Hong Kong Herbarium and the South China Institute of Botany. Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department Bulletin 1 (revised). 384 pp.

Zhengyi, Wu/Raven, Peter H./Deyuan, Hong. 2011. Flora of China (online resource).