What Is the Ecological Importance of the Lotus Plant?

An array of lotus plants.

The lotus is a freshwater plant that is native to India, and made its way to the Middle East, China and Southeast Asia about 2,000 years ago. It has now become one of America's favorite wetland plants and grows in many of the warmer parts of North America, from Ontario to Florida. Its biological name is Nelumbo Nucifera, and it's also referred to as the Indian lotus, the Chinese water lily and the Egyptian bean. While the lotus is the official flower of India and Korea and the sacred symbol to the Buddha and Hindu religions, it also bears great ecological importance to wetlands.

Description

The lotus flower is in full bloom.

This hardy plant grows in the mud of shallow ponds and marshes in semitropical climates. The stalks can grow to a height of about six yards, depending on the water depth. There are many long green leaf stalks that are covered in bumps, and each has a large disk-shaped green leaf that can be up to three yards wide. These leaves either float on the water or protrude above the surface. The large multi-petal flowers can be white, yellow or deep pink, depending on the type of lotus, and they produce small, oval dark brown seeds in late summer.

The Lotus Plant is Food

Lotus seeds ready to pick.

The entire plant is eaten as a vegetable and used in many Indian and Asian dishes, including the main stalks, also called rhizomes, which are crisp, tubular-type stalks filled with air bubbles. They are fried, eaten raw in a variety of savory dishes or cooked in soups with chicken or beans. The seeds (lianzi) are candied as sweet snacks, and when they are roasted they swell up and are called makhanas. They are also ground into a flour and made into pastes for cake fillings called moon cakes, which are cakes with a mixture of seed paste and walnuts. The seeds have a high nutritional value of protein but little fiber or vitamins. The roots, however, are extremely high in nutrition including fiber, protein and vitamins. According to Emily Hahn's 1968 book, "The Cooking of China," China specializes in farms for the purpose of harvesting lotus seeds.

Food For Wildlife

Lotus plants under the water.

The lotus plant is a food source for many kinds of wildlife and because of these plants, the ponds and marshes have become home to many different species. Waterfowl such as ducks not only eat the seeds, but they spread the seeds so more plants will grow. Fish and other small water creatures eat the small aquatics which cling to the underside of the leaves, and beavers and muskrats eat various parts of the plant leaves and stalk, which are high in fiber and vitamins B and C. The plants in these wetlands support wildlife and enable them to continue living in these areas.

Home and Shelter for Wildlife

The plants provide shelter for wildlife.

The lotus leaves provide shelter to many types of wildlife, including waterfowl, fish and other wetland species. The widespread leaves are a cover for small fish and aquatic organisms that use the leaves as a shelter to protect themselves from other larger wildlife. The undersides of the leaves are homes for snails and other small forms of aquatic species.

The Plants are a Natural Water Filter

Lotus plants replenish the oxygen in the water.

The lotus plants keep the water replenished with fresh oxygen that is provided by the leaves above the surface of the water. This is crucial, especially for smaller marshes and ponds that are inhabited by small water wildlife; otherwise, the water would become stagnant and risk the survival of the natural wildlife in those waters.

Global Concern

Climate change challenges the existence of wildlife.

Climate change has led to global concerns that coastal wetland ecosystems may be destroyed because of the overflow of seawater that is invading marshes and wetlands. While environmentalists are busy establishing ways to prohibit this invasion, they are confident that as long as the lotus plants can survive, the wildlife in these wetlands will continue to be fed and protected.

References

• Maryland Dept of Natural Resources: Lotus Plant
• Association for Asian Research: Ancient Dietary Wisdom

Resources

• Association for Asian Research: The Lotus Flower