Description

Nelumbo nucifera, the sacred lotus, is the national flower of India and a venerated aquatic perennial of the family Nelumbonaceae, native to the freshwater lakes, ponds, and slow rivers of tropical and subtropical Asia from Iran to Australia. The plant’s seeds — hard, dark, ovoid, and enclosed within a distinctive honeycomb receptacle — are consumed as a nutritive food across East and South Asia and are documented in classical Ayurvedic texts as Padma Beeja. Rich in starch, protein, and the alkaloid nelumbine, the seeds appear in Rasayana formulations in the Ashtanga Hridayam. The lotus plant in its entirety — flower, leaf, rhizome, stamen, and seed — is documented in classical texts with distinct pharmacological applications, representing one of the most comprehensively utilised plants in Ayurvedic material medica.