Nelumbo nucifera Gaertn., Nelumbonaceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Other Latin names:  Nelumbo speciosa Willd.

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

Korean: yeonkkot

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 (2013)
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. (2013) 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. (2013) 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. (2013) (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. (2013)
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. (2013)
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. (2013)
Australia Australia (continental)	Queensland	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2013)
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 (2013) "Lakes, ponds, cultivated. Throughout China except Nei Mongol, Qinghai, and Xizang".
China China	Hong Kong	native	Wu, Te-lin (2001) (p. 51)
Indonesia Indonesia	Indonesia (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2013)
Japan Japan	Japan	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2013)
North Korea North Korea	North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2013)
South Korea South Korea	South Korea (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2013)
Malaysia Malaysia	Malaysia (country of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2013)
Singapore Singapore	Singapore (Republic of)	introduced cultivated	Chong, Kwek Yan/Tan, Hugh T. W./Corlett, Richard T. (2009) (p. 63) Cultivated only
Taiwan Taiwan Island	Taiwan Island	native	Zhengyi, Wu/Raven, Peter H./Deyuan, Hong (2013) "Lakes, ponds, cultivated".
Thailand Thailand	Thailand (Kingdom of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2013)
Vietnam Vietnam	Vietnam (Socialist Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2013)

Also reported from
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
United States (continental except west coast) United States (other states)	United States (other states)	introduced invasive cultivated	Flora of North America Editorial Committee, eds. (2013) Flowering late spring-summer. Ponds and lakes; 0-400 m. Sporadically naturalized from cultivation.

Control:  If you know of control methods for Nelumbo nucifera, please let us know.