Lotus Nelumbo Nucifera in Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden

On my recent visit to Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden I was absolutely stunned by these strikingly beautiful and exotic flowers! I had no idea they grow in Virginia. Nelumbo Nucifera commonly known as Lotus is a rather large plant with leaves sometimes measuring as much as 24 inch. in diameter.

Lotuses are apparently edible and very few people actually know about it. For centuries natives of Australia, Japan, and southeast Asia have been using different parts of this plant in their cuisines. According to the Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden official page lotus leaf stalks are added to salads and their seeds taste like almonds. The flowers' roots are pickled and their stamens are dried and turned into tea.

I personally like the beauty of Nelumbo Nucifera flowers. Large and unusually shaped they are of tender pink and vanilla hues. A dried seed cup looks like an alien spaceship and with no doubt could be turned into a great house decoration.