The American Lotus
By: Saani Kulkarni
The importance of Lotus flowers
Lotus flowers are very important to the environment, especially people. They were used as clean drinking water sources for fisherman, since the clean rainfall got caught in their leaves. Also, scientists are replicating the lotus leaves' structure and using the repellence system for applications like coating hulls of ships, to protecting suspension cables. Native Americans also included lotus leaves in their diet, since they ate the rhizomes, and people in Louisiana eat Cajun peanuts (Another name for the American lotus), a Louisiana specialty.
Annual or Perennial?
The American Lotus is usually perennial, since its most active growth period is the summer.
It blooms the most in mid-summer, and it produces food and seeds in the summer all the way to fall. It has a long life span compared to other flowers, too. It dies around mid or early fall, and regrows in early summer, though it can survive in temperatures up to -36 degrees F.
Pictures
The American Lotus
The American Lotus is a beautiful flower, and has a scientific name of Nelumbo lutea. It also has many common names such as water lotus, yellow lotus, water chinquapin,and duck acorns.
Where is the American Lotus found?
This flower is native to Canada and the U.S. Its found in the backwaters of rivers or reservoirs, in marsh and swamp pools, and in lakes, like the one in this picture.
Parts of a Lotus
These are the parts of a common lotus flower. Most lotus flowers, including the American lotus, have the same structure.
Vascular Traits of the American Lotus
This picture shows all the vascular traits of the American lotus. The American lotus has leaves, roots, and stems. This makes it a vascular plant.
Monocot or Dicot?
The American Lotus is a monocot. This picture shows that it does not have leaves with branching veins, it has leaves with parallel veins.
Reproductive Process of the American Lotus
After the lotus grows to a mature length of seven stem sections, it has an ability to form bisexual flowers. It contains both the male and female reproductive parts, so it has the ability to self-pollinate.The pollen grains rub off the stamens, and onto the central stigma, and than a tube forms down to the flower's ovule, where it gets fertilized. Since the flowers usually have an isolated position on the water, wind gusts might help to pollinate. Then, the flower begins to die, but keeps the fertilized ovule at the bud's center.
Leaf Structure and Function
The leaf is a very important plant part. They provide most of the plant's food. They use photosynthesis to capture sunlight which the plant uses to make food. They have chlorophyll, which is what turns the leaf green, and absorbs light energy.
Stems: Herb or Woody?
This picture above shows the traits of both a wood and herb stem structure. The lotus stem is an herb stem. The function of the stem is to support the plant, act as a plumbing system, and carry nutrients from the roots and food from the leaves , to other places in the plant.
Roots and their Function
This picture above shows the labeled structure of a root. The lotus flower's root type is most likely a fibrous root. The function of roots is to absorb water and minerals from the soil. They also hold the plant up, so it does not fall down. Another thing that roots do is store additional food for future use.