native to eastern Asia; widely cultivated for its large pink or white flowers
source: WordNet 3.0
annual or perennial herbs or subshrubs
source: WordNet 3.0
white Egyptian lotus: water lily of Egypt to southeastern Africa; held sacred by the Egyptians
source: WordNet 3.0
A name of several kinds of water lilies; as Nelumbium speciosum, used in religious ceremonies, anciently in Egypt, and to this day in Asia; Nelumbium luteum, the American lotus; and Nymphæa Lotus and N. cærulea, the respectively white- flowered and blue-flowered lotus of modern Egypt, which, with Nelumbium speciosum, are figured on its ancient monuments.