Lotus flowers (Nelumbo nucifera spp. nucifera) are a symbol of
spiritual transcendence and purity, both in Hinduism and Buddhism.
Flowers are cut in the bud stage and used in religious
worship. The genus Nelumbo is in the family Nelumbonaceae (APG,
2003, 2009; Chase and Reveal, 2009). There are two extant species
(N. lutea, with pale yellow petals, and N. nucifera, with white or
pink petals) which have also been regarded to be one species with
two subspecies: N. nucifera spp. lutea and N. nucifera spp. nucifera
(Hayes et al., 2000). In Thailand one of the two main commercial
cultivars of N. nucifera spp. nucifera is Saddabutra, which is
probably identical to cv. Album Plenum.
The Saddabutra flower has several green outer petals and many
white inner petals. It has a long floral stalk, called peduncle. Both
the peduncle and the leaves emerge from a rhizome, which grows
in the mud of a body of water. As the peduncles are cut at the
peduncle–rhizome junction, the cut flowers have no leaves.