Blue Water Lily
Nymphaea nouchali
The Blue Waterlily, also known as the Indian Blue Lotus is a water-lily that is found in India. The leaves are broadly rounded, 25-40 cm across, with a notch at the leaf stem. The flowers are 10-15 cm diameter, open in the morning, rising to the surface of the water, then close and sink at dusk. It has blue petals, smoothly changing to a pale yellow in the centre of the flower. There is variety Nymphaea nouchali var. caerulea is the sky-blue colored so-called Egyptian 'lotus'. It is found growing along the Nile. It was considered extremely significant in Egyptian mythology, since it rose and fell with the sun.
-