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sethomopod

Sen.... What are they in English?

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OK, Check these out!!!

I went for a walk to get some pics.... Got distracted about 50m down the road by some nice cold beer... (they drink hot beer with ice here) sat down, A couple of locals sat down with me... about 10 beers later, one of the locals wanted to show me his mango farm.... along the walk through what was like rice fields, he was growing alot of these flowers called, in the native tongue, 'Sen'...(of course pronunciation is difficult,,, having 6 ways of saying the same word with different meanings)... not sure if they grow them to celebrate holidays or religious reasons, but there are alot of them in the area.. So beautiful!!! so swampy!!! I've never seen them before... The big pink flowers are pollinated and become the big pods.. Which have the big seeds in them... If you pry open an unopened flower,, you can see ants running around pollinating them. They also break open the developing pods and eat the seeds.. (Didnt try one though)Raw and cooked somehow... They grow and drop the flowers, become black and very hard, That's when you can pull the seeds out and plant them.... Stunning!!!!

A Sen field;

http://i965.photobuc...15102010667.jpg

A flower opening.... beautiful yellow stamens... If you look close.. you can see the pod forming

http://i965.photobuc...15102010669.jpg

A maturing pod.. where you can see where he tore open the pod and munched on one of the seeds......

http://i965.photobuc...15102010670.jpg

A pod that is close to being picked... You can wiggle the seeds like a loose tooth....

http://i965.photobuc...15102010671.jpg

A medium sized unopened flower....

http://i965.photobuc...15102010674.jpg

Has anyone seen these? I would love to know the genus name....

anyways, I'm gonna grow them

I'll post some more pics of germination (which is supposed to be very easy) and growth...

Hope you peeps like the pics.......newimprovedwinkonclear.gif

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nice flowers... The pod looks like lotus you sometimes see it in Chinese markets and sometimes used in restaurants, but white flesh.

Shortly got it

Nelumbo nucifera from Wikipedia,Scientific classification

Kingdom: Plantae

(unranked): Angiosperms

(unranked): Eudicots

Order: Proteales

Family: Nelumbonaceae

Genus: Nelumbo

Species: N. nucifera

Binomial name

Nelumbo nucifera

Gaertn.

Synonyms

Nelumbium speciosum Willd.

Nymphaea nelumbo

Nelumbo nucifera, known by a number of names including Indian Lotus, Sacred Lotus, Bean of India, or simply Lotus, is a plant in the Nelumbonaceae family. Botanically, Nelumbo nucifera (Gaertn.) may also be referred to by its former names, Nelumbium speciosum (Willd.) or Nymphaea nelumbo. This plant is an aquatic perennial. Under favorable circumstances its seeds may remain viable for many years, with the oldest recorded lotus germination being from that of seeds 1300 years old recovered from a dry lakebed in northeastern China.[1]

A common misconception is referring to the lotus as a waterlily (Nymphaea), an entirely different plant as can be seen from the center of the flower, which clearly lacks the structure that goes on to form the distinctive circular seed pod in the Nelumbo nucifera.[citation needed] Waterlilies come in various colors, whereas the lotus has flowers only in hues of pink, or white.[citation needed]

Native to Greater India[citation needed] and Bangladesh. It is commonly cultivated in water gardens, the lotus is the national flower of India and Vietnam.

Contents

1 Classification

2 Botany

3 Uses

4 Cultural significance

5 Other uses

6 See also

7 References

[edit] Classification

See also: Nelumbo

Plant taxonomy systems agree that this flower is in the Nelumbo genus, but disagree as to which family Nelumbo is in, or whether it should be part of its own unique family and order tree.

[edit] Botany

Open bloomThe 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.

Researchers report that the lotus has the remarkable ability to regulate the temperature of its flowers to within a narrow range just as humans and other warmblooded animals do.[2] Dr. Roger S. Seymour and Dr. Paul Schultze-Motel, physiologists at the University of Adelaide in Australia, found that lotus flowers blooming in the Adelaide Botanic Gardens maintained a temperature of 30–35°C (86–95°F), even when the air temperature dropped to 10°C (50°F). They suspect the flowers may be doing this to attract coldblooded insect pollinators. The study, published in the journal Nature, is the latest discovery in the esoteric field of heat-producing plants. Two other species known to be able to regulate their temperature include Symplocarpus foetidus and Philodendron selloum.

The traditional Sacred Lotus is distantly related to Nymphaea caerulea, and possesses similar chemistry. Both Nymphaea caerulea and Nelumbo nucifera contain the alkaloids nuciferine and aporphine.

[edit] Uses

Fruit of Nelumbo nucifera; the dried seed cup is commonly used in flower arrangements.

Boiled, sliced lotus roots used in various Asian cuisineThe distinctive dried seed heads, which resemble the spouts of watering cansphoto, are widely sold throughout the world for decorative purposes and for dried flower arranging.

The flowers, seeds, young leaves, and "roots" (rhizomes) are all edible. In Asia, the petals are used sometimes for garnish, while the large leaves are used as a wrap for food, not frequently eaten (for example, as a wrapper for zongzi). In Korea, the leaves and petals are used as a tisane. Yeonkkotcha (연꽃차) is made with dried petals of white lotus and yeonipcha (연잎차) is made with the leaves. Young lotus stems are used as a salad ingredient in Vietnamese cuisine. The rhizome (called ǒu (藕) in pinyin Chinese, ngau in Cantonese, bhe in Hindi, renkon (レンコン, 蓮根 in Japanese), yeongeun (연근) in Korean) is used as a vegetable in soups, deep-fried, stir-fried, and braised dishes and the roots are also used in traditional Asian herbal medicine. Petals, leaves, and rhizome can also all be eaten raw, but there is a risk of parasite transmission (e.g., Fasciolopsis buski): it is therefore recommended that they be cooked before eating.

Lotus rootlets are often pickled with rice vinegar, sugar, chili and/or garlic. It has a crunchy texture with sweet-tangy flavours. In Asian cuisine, it is popular with salad, prawns, sesame oil and/or coriander leaves. Lotus roots have been found to be rich in dietary fiber, vitamin C, potassium, thiamin, riboflavin, vitamin B6, phosphorus, copper, and manganese, while very low in saturated fat.[citation needed]

The stamens can be dried and made into a fragrant herbal tea called liánhuā cha (蓮花茶) in Chinese, or (particularly in Vietnam)[citation needed] used to impart a scent to tea leaves. The lotus seeds or nuts (called liánzĭ, 蓮子; or xian liánzĭ, 鲜莲子, in Chinese) are quite versatile, and can be eaten raw or dried and popped like popcorn, phool makhana. They can also be boiled until soft and made into a paste, or boiled with dried longans and rock sugar to make a tong sui (sweet soup). Combined with sugar, lotus seed paste becomes one of the most common ingredients used in pastries such as mooncakes, daifuku, and rice flour pudding.[3]

Hindu goddess Lakshmi holding & standing on a lotus.[edit] Cultural significance

See also: Padma (attribute)

Vishnu holding the lotus, also sitting on it and wearing a lotus-bud crown.From ancient times the lotus has been a divine symbol in Asian traditions representing the virtues of sexual purity and non-attachment.

Hindus revere it with the divinities Vishnu and Lakshmi often portrayed on a pink lotus in iconography. In the representation of Vishnu as Padmanabha (Lotus navel), a lotus issues from his navel with Brahma on it. Goddess Sarasvati is portrayed on a white-colored lotus.

Often used as an example of divine beauty, Vishnu is often described as the 'Lotus-Eyed One'. Its unfolding petals suggest the expansion of the soul. The growth of its pure beauty from the mud of its origin holds a benign spiritual promise. In Hindu iconography, other deities, like Ganga and Ganesha are often depicted with lotus flowers as their seats.

The lotus plant is cited extensively within Puranic and Vedic literature, for example:

One who performs his duty without attachment, surrendering the results unto the Supreme Lord, is unaffected by sinful action, as the lotus is untouched by water.

—Bhagavad Gita 5.10:

This has also taken root in Chinese cultures with a famous statement made by the Confucian scholar Zhou Dunyi:

I love the lotus because while growing from mud, it is unstained.

Lotus root monument in Wuhan, ChinaMost Buddhist, Chinese, Hindu, Japanese, and other Asian deities are depicted as seated on a lotus flower. In Buddhist symbolism, the lotus represents purity of the body, speech, and mind as if floating above the muddy waters of attachment and desire. According to legend, Gautama Buddha was born with the ability to walk, and lotus flowers bloomed everywhere he stepped.

In the classical written and oral literature of many Asian cultures the lotus is present in figurative form, representing elegance, beauty, perfection, purity and grace, being often used in poems and songs as an allegory for ideal feminine attributes. In Sanskrit the word lotus (padma पद्म) has many synonyms. Since the lotus thrives in water, ja (denoting birth) is added to synonyms of water to derive some synonyms for the lotus, like ambuja (ambu= water + ja=born of), neeraj (neera=water + ja= born of), pankaj, pankaja, kamal, kamala, kunala, aravind, arvind, nalin,nalini and saroja[4] and names derived from the lotus, like padmavati (possessing lotuses) or padmini (full of lotuses).[5] These names and derived versions are often used to name girls, and to a lesser extent boys, in India, Nepal and Sri Lanka, as well as in many other countries influenced by Indic culture, like Thailand, Cambodia, Indonesia and Laos.

Drawing in turn on these beliefs, the international Bahá'í community adopted this symbolism in the design of the Lotus Temple in New Delhi, India.

[edit] Other uses

a species of Nymphaea (water lily, possibly N. lotus), not related to Nelumbo, but sometimes confused with it, taken in 2007The Padma Shri, a civilian award given by the Government of India, has the words Padma ("lotus") and Sri in Devanagari script appear above and below a lotus flower on its obverse.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), a nationalist political party of India which claims to be at the forefront of India's cultural nationalism, uses the lotus as its election symbol.

Japanese rock musician Miyavi uses the lotus and a crescent moon with the kanji of his name (meaning 'elegance') above, as his insignia.

Moriyama City's prefectural flower is the lotus.

Vietnam Airlines's logo comprises a golden lotus and is also mentioned in their frequent flyer program, the Golden Lotus Plus.

Lotus is burned in a powdered form as ceremonial incense, primarily in Buddhist temples.

Edited by dworx

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Nelumbo nucifera, dam fine eating :drool2:

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they even grew in my hometown in the creek, till the bloody council dumped fill into the creek, and all are gone now, weeps.

divine plant, can be kept aswell as an ornamental,

saw some once in byron bay, they were planted out in containers left and right of the main entrance, they lifted the whole place aura and beauty, quite a bit!

nice pics! :wub:

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Ill agree with everyone else here - i would have thought you might recognise that one seth, ross river is covered in them :)

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Ill agree with everyone else here - i would have thought you might recognise that one seth, ross river is covered in them smile.gif

 

Yeah, What had me curious was the height.. I've never seen them grow so high.. thought it may have been a sub species...

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