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The ancient Egyptians worshipped the Blue Lotus
(Nymphaea caerulea) as a symbol of the origin of life. When King Tut's tomb
was opened in 1922, his body was covered with Blue Lotus flowers. Indians
believe that Brahma, the creator of the universe, sprang from a lotus
blossom. And the Buddhist prayer "Om! Mani padme hum!" translates as "Oh!,
the jewel of the lotus flower!" Until recently, it was believed the
importance of Nymphaea caerulea was purely symbolic. We now know, however,
that the ancient Egyptians and other cultures worshipped the plant not only
for its beauty but as an intoxicant. When Blue Lotus was soaked in hot water
or wine (and perhaps even smoked) the flower produced a blissful state of
dreamy euphoria. Nymphaea caerulea is extremely rare.
Nymphaea Caerulea (Blue Lotus) was held in very high esteem by the ancient
Egyptians. Nymphaea Caerulea (Blue Lotus) was worshipped as a visionary
plant and was a symbol for the origins of life. The Egyptians believed that
the world was originally covered by water and darkness. A Blue Lotus sprang
up from the water and opened its petals to reveal a young god, a Divine
Child. Light streamed from the Divine Child to banish universal darkness.
This child god was the Creator, the Sun God, the source of all life. When
the Pharao known as King Tut was entombed, his body was covered in Nymphaea
Caerulea (Blue Lotus) flowers.
Nymphaea Caerulea (Blue Lotus) is also highly respected and by Indians and
in Buddhism.
When Nymphaea Caerulea (Blue Lotus) was smoked or drank after being soaked
in water or wine, it acted as an intoxicant.
Nymphaea Caerulea (Blue Lotus) is an extremely rare plant.
This lovely aquatic plant with sky-blue flowers is South Africa's most
commonly grown indigenous water lily.
It is a clump forming perennial with thick, black, spongy, tuberous rhizomes
anchored in the pond mud by spreading roots. The water lily does not have
true stems, the leaves are on long petioles (leaf stalks) that arise
directly from the rhizome. The leaves are large and flat, rounded or oval in
shape with notched margins, up to 40 cm in diameter, and cleft almost to the
centre where the petiole is attached. They are relatively short lived and
are replaced regularly throughout the growing season. They start out as a
soft shiny green at the centre of the plant. As they age, the petiole
lengthens, pushing the leaf towards the outer perimeter making room for the
new growth, and they develop light brown or purple splashes which eventually
cover the leaf, leaving only the veins green. They then start to die,
turning yellow then brown and eventually disappearing under the water. One
plant can spread over an area of about 1 m..
The leaves show many interesting adaptations to their watery environment.
The margins are slightly rolled inwards toward the uppermost side (involute)
which helps keep the blades afloat. The underside of the leaf, which is
continually wet, has a strong attraction to the water and this holds the
leaf flat against the water. The veins act like a structural support for the
leaves. The upper leaf surface is coated with a smooth waxy cuticle, which
gives it the appearance of being leathery and shiny. This water-repellent
waxy layer is of vital importance to the plant, not only to help prevent the
leaf from sinking, but also to prevent the tiny stomatal pores, through
which it breathes, from becoming clogged with dust. When water splashes onto
the leaf surface, it forms rounded droplets that roll across the surface
cleaning up the dust as they go. Clean dust free leaves are also better able
to photosynthesise effectively.
Another problem facing aquatic plants is the supply of oxygen to their
roots. Roots must constantly be supplied with oxygen to stay healthy and the
water lily's roots are buried in poorly aerated pond mud and therefore
cannot get oxygen they way normal plants do. It has overcome this difficulty
by developing a system of large internal ducts throughout the leaves,
petioles and roots which ferries the oxygen from the leaves to the roots.
The large, elegant blue flowers are held well above the water at the tip of
a sturdy green stalk and appear almost constantly from spring until the end
of summer (September to February). They are bisexual, star-like and regular
(actinomorphic), with 4 sepals, green on the outside and white to blue on
the inside, and many blue petals. In the centre of the flower are numerous
blue-tipped bright golden yellow stamens. There are colour forms other than
blue that occasionally occur, e.g. white, mauve and pink, but blue is the
most common and the water lilies at Kirstenbosch are blue. The flowers open
in early to mid-morning and close completely in late afternoon and stay
closed all night. The opening and closing mechanism of the flowers is
controlled by the sepals. If they are removed, the flower loses the ability
to close. A fully open flower measures 15-20 cm across and each flower lasts
for about four days. The flowers are sweetly fragrant and are visited
constantly by bees who are the most likely pollinator.
The famous night-flowering giant water lily of the Amazon, Victoria
amazonica has a complicated pollination mechanism where beetles are trapped
inside the closed flower where they are given a meal in exchange for getting
covered by pollen. When they are released, laden with pollen they head
straight for the newly opened fresh flowers of neighbouring plants. It does
not appear that the nymphaeas employ such a complicated strategy. The spent,
pollinated flower closes completely, looking like a bud, enclosed once again
by the sepals. It sinks underwater where the ovary develops into a hard
green berry-like ovate to pear-shaped fruit. In clean water they can be
clearly seen resting on the pond floor. When mature, the walls decay to
release thousands of small (1.2 x 0.8 mm) ellipsoidal seeds, each surrounded
by a membranous aril which causes them to float for a while, allowing the
seeds to disperse from the parent plant, before it disintegrates and they
sink under the water onto the mud.
The Water lily Family
The water lily family, Nymphaeaceae, is an old and evolutionarily primitive
one, and is grouped with buttercups (Ranunculus) and magnolias in the order
Ranales. Furthermore, fossil evidence suggests that nymphaeas have not
changed much over the past 160 million years. All they have done is move
about the globe, keeping in the tropical and temperate zones. Other well
known genera in this family include Victoria, the giant amazon water lily
and Nelumbo, the sacred lotus.
The genus Nymphaea consists of roughly 40 species found in tropical and
temperate climates of both hemispheres. It is full of synonymy, because
different populations or colour forms have been described as separate
species which have since been sunk into one species and in some cases the
same plants have been described as different species by different botanists,
or the name of one species has been misapplied to another species. It all
gets rather confusing. There are also many variants and hundreds of hybrids
that come in all colours, shapes and sizes.
There are only two species that occur in southern Africa. One is Nymphaea
lotus, the white water lily, or white lotus which has night-blooming white
or cream flowers and is widespread in tropical Africa to southern Africa,
where it occurs in the former Transvaal, KwaZulu-Natal, Botswana, Swaziland
and Namibia, and in Madagascar, in sheltered water 0.5-2.5m deep and in
swamps. It also occurs in hot springs in Hungary and Romania. There is a
variety in Australia and it is widely cultivated in the USA and South
America
The other southern African species isNymphaea nouchali. The blue lotus,
Nymphaea caerulea and the Cape blue water lily, Nymphaea capensis are no
longer regarded as distinct species and have been sunk into this genus. The
type specimen was collected in Coromandel in India. The meaning of the
specific ephithet nouchali has only been traced with the assistance of staff
at Kew who report that one of their specimens contains a note that Noakhali
is a district in Bangladesh. The variety name caerulea refers to the sky
blue colour of the flowers.
In Africa, this species occurs in tropical to southern Africa where it is
common, although not as common as it used to be, in pools, dams, vleis and
swamps, seasonal ponds, lake-edges and slow-flowing streams and rivers,
mostly in water 30 to 90 cm deep. There are five African varieties:
Nymphaea nouchali var. caerulea which is widespread all over South Africa,
Swaziland, Botswana and Namibia as well as further north in Zimbabwe,
Zambia, Malawi, Angola, Mozambique, DRC, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania Sudan,
Egypt and west Africa, from sea level to 2700 m. In the Western Cape it is
often found growing with Aponogeton distachyos, the waterblommetjie.
Nymphaea nouchali var. ovalifolia, which occurs in the former Transvaal and
Botswana, as well as in Tanzania and the DRC.
Nymphaea nouchali var. petersiana which occurs in the former Transvaal,
KwaZulu-Natal and Namibia, and in Tanzania, Mozambique, Malawi, Zimbabwe and
Angola.
Nymphaea nouchali var. zanzibarensis which occurs in the former Transvaal
and KwaZulu-Natal, and in Mozambique, Kenya, Tanzania and the DRC.
and the last one Nymphaea nouchali var. mutandaensis which occurs only in
Uganda.
History and Legends
Water lilies, particularly nymphaeas, the true water lilies, are steeped in
history and tradition. The name of the genus Nymphaea is a direct
transliteration of a Greek word which Theophrastus (a disciple of Plato and
Aristotle) used to describe these plants about 300 years before the common
era, and refers to the practice of early Greeks in dedicating the water lily
to the semi-divine water maidens, the nymphs. This is however by no means
the earliest record that we have of the water lily. In Egypt, Nymphaea
caerulea (now sunk in Nymphaea nouchali var. caerulea), the blue lotus and
Nymphaea lotus, the white lotus, have been admired, painted, eaten, grown
and revered for thousands of years. The goddess Isis is said to have pointed
out that the rhizomes were edible, and its flowers, buds and leaves are
often depicted on ancient monuments, in murals, on pottery and on furniture.
Monarchs and priests of ancient Egypt were laid to rest with wreaths made
from the petals of the blue lotus, laid in concentric semi-circles from the
chin downwards. There is also evidence, in the form of a painting in a tomb
dating back to 3000-2500 BCE, that nymphaeas were deliberately cultivated in
square, evenly spaced beds fed by canals. The blooms were in great demand
for religious festivals, offerings of the flowers being made to the dead or
to the gods, as well as for gifts to visiting noblemen as a gesture of
friendship and goodwill. And later on, both Amenhotep IV and Ramses III
(1225 BCE) are known to have had them growing purely for their ornamental
value in their palace gardens. The reason for their veneration lies in the
belief that the beautiful blooms of the water lily, rising pure and clean
from the slimy mud, were comparable with the aspirations of mankind: purity
and immortality.
In China water lilies are thought to have been grown for many years. There
is a beautiful passage by Chou Tun-I of the eleventh century T'ang Dynasty:
" . . my favourite is the water lily. How stainless it rises form its slimy
bed. How modestly it reposes on the clear pool, an emblem of purity and
truth. Symmetrically perfect, its subtle perfume is wafted far and wide;
while there it rests in spotless state, something to be regarded reverently
from a distance, and not to be profaned by familiar approach.". It has also
long been cultivated by the Japanese.
In modern times, the name lotus is used almost exclusively for Nelumbo
nucifera, also called the sacred lotus or incorrectly the Egyptian lotus.
Nelumbo nucifera is not a native of Egypt. It actually comes from south-east
Asia where it is often found near temples and is regarded as sacred in China
and Japan. It was introduced to the Nile by the Romans, probably for food.
The true Egyptian lotus is Nymphaea nouchali var. caerulea (syn. N. caerulea)
and Nymphaea lotus.
Back home, in earlier times (c. 1800) in South Africa, the rootstock of the
blue water lily was collected and eaten, either raw or in curries, in
particular by the Cape Malays and farming communities in the Cape. Today,
only waterblommetjies, Aponogeton distachyos, are still eaten.
The common name kaaimanblom, which means merman's flower in English, was
acquired because this water lily is often found growing in a deep pool (kaaimansgat),
and popular superstition had it that a merman (kaaiman) dwelt in such a pool
and would drown anyone swimming in his pool. Furthermore, it was suspected
that the merman put the flowers there specifically to attract his victims,
especially disobedient boys. It gets the name frog's pulpit /
paddapreekstoel, because the leaves provide resting places for frogs.
Growing Nymphaea nouchali var. caerulea
Water lilies are simple to grow, all they need is full sun, some good soil
and at least 30 cm of still water. Full sun is necessary for the plants to
grow vigorously and produce flowers as well as for the flowers to open
during the day. They do not like to be in a pond with a fountain or in
swiftly moving water, neither do they like wind.
Two planting methods are commonly used for water lilies. Either the pond
floor can be covered with about 15cm of a sand and compost mixture and the
plants grown directly in this, or else they can be planted in a container
which is sunk into the pond. The latter method is often preferred as the
plants are more easily removed for inspection or division, or for the pond
to be cleaned. Specially manufactured plastic water lily baskets are the
most suitable and are available from most garden centres. As they have
latticework sides, it is advisable to line them with hessian before planting
to prevent soil spillage into the water.
Water lilies are heavy feeders. In a natural pond the accumulation of humus
at the bottom is sufficient to maintain lush growth. In artificial ponds and
particularly for container grown plants, it is important to add sufficient
nutrients to the soil. If not the plant will soon use up all available
nutrients and stop thriving. Just about every water lily enthusiast will
have his or her preferred soil mixture. Good sieved garden loam is a
recommended base although some swear by pure unwashed river sand. It can be
mixed with artificial fertiliser, or two parts loam can be mixed with 1 part
well rotted cow manure or equal parts loam, compost and well-rotted cow
manure can be used. If using cow manure and compost it is important that it
not be allowed to come into direct contact with the water. Coarse ground
hoof and horn or bonemeal can also be mixed in. However, it is a delicate
balance because if too much nitrogen rich material or fertiliser is used, it
can cause an algae bloom in the pond which will leave your fish swimming in
pea-soupy water. Also, it may encourage your water lilies to over exuberant
growth. If you are too stingy with fertiliser and the potted water lilies
fail to thrive, a slow release fertiliser pill can be pushed into the soil
near the roots.
The crowns of the lily (the part of the plant where the leaves all originate
from) should be planted firmly just protruding above the surface of the soil
and the soil should be covered with a layer of river sand and pebbles in
order to keep the water clean. The container should be drenched, and then
placed a few centimetres below the surface of the water or to where its
leaves float naturally (i.e. to the level it was in the Garden Centre). If
your pond is deeper, the plant will adjust as the petioles respond quite
quickly to relatively small changes in depth. Nymphaea nouchali var.
caerulea requires about 30 cm, but no more than 90 cm. of water above its
crown.
An easy way to get loose, uprooted full grown plants established in a
natural or soil-filled pond is to tie a weight around the base of the stem
and then toss it into the pond where you would like the new plant to grow.
Make sure that the depth is adequate, and the leaves will find their own
level and within a few weeks the roots will have grown into the mud/sand at
the bottom of your pond. A new plant can also be bagged with soil in a
hessian square, the four corners tied into a package which is lowered into a
natural or soil-filled pond. The hessian will eventually rot by which time
the plant will be established on the pond floor.
Nymphaea nouchali var. caerulea grows easily in any part of southern Africa,
including the highveld and can be considered hardy to a winter minimum of -1
to 4 oC / 30 to 40 oF (Zone 10). In climates colder than this they will most
likely be killed if left outdoors during winter. Although the blue water
lily does go dormant during the winter, it should be left in the water
throughout its dormancy. At the coast they keep their leaves during winter.
Water lilies are without doubt the most beautiful aquatic plants and are a
must for every sunny water garden. But they need not only be used in ponds.
Innovative gardeners with small gardens and sunny courtyards can enjoy them
too, as they can be successfully grown in a variety of water-filled pottery
containers, wooden barrels, old kitchen sinks and water features.
Propagating Nymphaea nouchali var. caerulea
The easiest method of propagation is division. Plants may be left in place
for two years, but pot grown plants are best lifted, divided and planted in
fresh soil each year for good results. The plants are best lifted and
divided just before new growth commences in the spring (August). Pull or cut
the fleshy roots (rhizomes) apart and replant immediately in fresh soil
mixture. Each new plant should have at least one bud at the tip of the
rhizome.
The blue water lily may be grown from seed, but this requires patience, for
the plants take 3 to 4 years to flower. It is difficult to collect the seed,
because the seed pods burst without much warning and the seeds disperse and
sink quite soon. A common practice is to tie a muslin bag around the
ripening pod. In this way after it bursts, the seeds cannot float away. The
seed can be sown in spring and during summer (September-January). Finely
sieved clean loam soil without any organic matter or fertiliser is best.
Seed should be sown thinly, covered lightly with soil and then plunged into
shallow water, no deeper than 2.5 cm, and placed in a sunny position.
Germination should take 3-4 weeks The seedlings will look like fine grass at
first, developing true leaves later. When the first two or three floating
leaves appear the seedling should be pricked out and planted into individual
containers and immersed back in the water. They may be submerged into deeper
water and larger containers as they grow and lengthen.
References
Arnold, T.H. and De Wet, B.C. (eds), 1993, Plants of Southern Africa: Names
and Distribution. Memoirs of the Botanical Survey of South Africa No. 62,
National Botanical Institute, Pretoria, South Africa.
Bailey, L.H., 1950, The Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture, Volume 2, The
Macmillan Company, New York, USA
Batten, Auriol, 1986, Flowers of Southern Africa, Frandsen Publishers,
Johannesburg, South Africa
Leistner, O.A. (ed.), 2000, Seed plants of southern Africa: families and
genera, Strelitzia 10., National Botanical Institute, Pretoria
Proctor, M., Yeo, P. & Lack, A., 1996, The Natural History of Pollination,
Harper Collins Publishers, United Kingdom.
Smith, C.A., 1699, Common Names of South African Plants, Dept. of
Agricultural Technical Services, Botanical Survey Memoir No 35, Government
Printer.
Swindells, Philip, 1983, Waterlilies, Croom Helm, United Kingdom & Timber
Press, USA
Verdcourt, B., 1989, Flora of Tropical East Africa, Nymphaeaceae 3-11
Author: Cherise Viljoen and Alice Notten
Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden
January 2002
The blue water lily was sacred to the ancient Egyptians. The god of the blue
water lily was Nefertem, Lord of Perfume. The flowers were not only noted
for their delightful perfume by the Egyptians but also for bringing
euphoria, heightened awareness and tranquility. Many historians thought it
was a purely symbolic flower, but there are some reason to believe that
ancient Egyptians used it to induce an ecstatic state, stimulation, and/or
hallucinations.
Monarchs and priests of ancient Egypt used this plant as a narcotic both for
its healing qualities and as a recreational drug (soaked in wine). Probably
it contains aporphine and a substance called nuciferine, soluble in alcohol
but not known to be psychoactive. People confirm effects as "euphoria with
tranquilization." , like cannabis or codeine; a little hallucinatory at
higher doses - but mainly hypnotic with a pretty good sedative, mild opiod
or cannabis like feeling.
It says that the flower "has a sort of Viagra effect", Other claimed effects
similar in some ways to MDMA.
Nymphaea nouchali var. caerulea is widespread all over South Africa,
Swaziland, Botswana and Namibia as well in Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi, Angola,
Mozambique, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania Sudan, Egypt and west Africa.
The name of the genus Nymphaea is a transliteration of a Greek word which
Theophrastus (a disciple of Plato and Aristotle) used to describe these
plants about 300 years before the common era, and refers to the practice of
early Greeks in dedicating the water lily to the semi-divine water maidens,
the Nymphs. This is however by no means the earliest record that we have of
the water lily. In Egypt, Nymphaea caerulea (now sunk in Nymphaea nouchali
var. caerulea), the blue lotus and Nymphaea lotus, the white lotus, have
been admired, painted, eaten, grown and revered for thousands of years.
The variety name caerulea refers to the sky blue colour of the flowers
Traditionally prepared
The flowers may be soaked in wine (about 5 grams per bottle) for several
hours before use. Too many flowers per bottle of wine renders the wine
extremely bitter and hard to drink.
The sacred blue water lily flowers are ethically wild crafted in South
Africa.
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From:
http://www.erowid.org/experiences/exp.php?ID=4008
by Ray Aten
I've been trying to work out what Lotus does and why it was so important for
ancient civilisations for about four months. The largest dose I did was 5
grams of 5 times extract in some tea. But having a dose that large wasn't
worth it, the effects of a large dose aren't that much more intense than a
moderate dose. When you smoke it it has a relaxing effect, and if you have
it with alcohol the effects are much more intense. The ancient Egyptians
used to put it into wine, and the ancient Vedic Indians used to brew an
alcoholic drink out of Lotus nectar itself. If all Lotus did was relax you
why would it be so important in Egyptian & Indian art? It has the most
prominent position in all ancient art where it is featured and I think that
this is for a reason. If you smoke some Lotus and then sit down and relax
you will not experience the full effects. You have to do a few things to
bring the effects on, kind of like with 2CB at a low dose. The first thing
you should do after smoking Lotus is hold your hands together like you are
preying, but leave a small gap between them. After a couple of seconds you
will feel a very strong force start to build up between your hands. The
force feels slightly different if you are on Blue Lotus to Pink Lotus, and
if you have them together you can feel it even stronger. Let your hands
charge up with energy for about a minute and the try holding them slightly
above other parts of your body, or better, hold a hand over a friend's body.
I shit you not, after smoking Lotus you can physically feel each others
auras with your hands. It feels like you are holding two magnets together.
After you've played around with this for a while you could try standing in a
ring with your friends and all holding your hands up so they are nearly
touching. It feels like there is an electric current flowing through you. If
you hold your two index fingers up in front of your face so the tips are
about half an inch apart you can almost see the static charge between them.
Lotus doesn't cause any visual distortions, but if you look into an empty
space or shut your eyes you can see a very subtle but complex patern of
energy flowing around. The easiest way to see it is to turn off the light or
go outside at night, make a frame with your hands and look at the centre.
The more you relax your eyes the better you can see it. I read somewhere a
while ago that in ancient Egypt priests would take Lotus and go into an
ecstatic trance. I thought this was weird when I first tried it because the
effect seems to be pretty mild. But then something strange happened. I was
going about my daily business having taken some Lotus the night before, and
I got a piece of very good news. Yes! I exclaimed to myself, and as I
realised how good the news was I got this intense feeling of energy in my
head and my body felt all charged up with energy all of a sudden. It was
pleasurable but not really like an ecstasy rush. For about half an hour
after it happened I felt really, really good like I was on a small dose of
ecstasy. I think the Lotus must have made my brain capable of producing more
serotonin, but only when I do actually have a reason to be happy. So if you
take Lotus try concentrating on something that you are really pleased about
and see if anything similar happens. I've found that you can still do the
things you learn to do on Lotus with your body's energy for quite some time
after you had the Lotus. I'm trying to learn how to meditate myself into an
ecstatic trance when on Lotus, but it's not easy. However I do think it is
possible, and I think that once you've done it you won't need to take Lotus
to do it again. Lotus is a tool. If you smoke it and don't work with it then
it won't give you that much. But if you play around with it then you can
find out some really interesting things. Happy exploring!
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