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Nelumbo lutea
Also called American Nelumbo, Yellow Lotus, Alligator Buttons, Duck Acorns, Great Yellow Lily, Rattle Nut, Watering Can
American lotus is a large emergent aquatic perennial with huge round leaves and showy yellow to pale yellow flowers in summer, grown in shallow ponds and water gardens. It needs full sun and still or slow-moving water with mud to root in.
Nelumbo lutea is a species of flowering plant in the family Nelumbonaceae. Common names include American lotus, yellow lotus, water-chinquapin, and volée. It is native to North America. The botanical name Nelumbo lutea Willd. is the currently recognized name for this species, which has been classified under the former names Nelumbium luteum and Nelumbo pentapetala, among others.
It is the larval host plant of the American lotus borer, Ostrinia penitalis.
N. lutea may be the plant called "macoupin" in the Miami-Illinois language. This plant has a large tuberous rhizome that is used as a food source. The seed is also edible and is known as "alligator corn". The seed-like fruits can be shaken loose, and are also edible. The unopened leaves and young stalks can be cooked.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Nelumbo lutea by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
