Baino
Nelumbo nucifera · Sacred lotus
- Names in the book
- Bayno, Tag.; Sukaw, Iloc.; Sacred Lotus, Eng.
- Used for
- Diarrhea and dysentery
- Colours
- flowerpink, white
- Native range
- Asia to northern Australia
- Family
- Nelumbonaceae, filed in the book under Nymphæaceæ
- Printed as
- Nelumbium nucifera, Gaertn. (N. speciosum, Willd.; N. Asiaticum, Rich.; Cyamus Nelumbo, Sm.; C. mysticus, Salis.)
- Sources
- Page 28 on Project Gutenberg · Wikipedia
The plant today
Nelumbo nucifera, also known as Padma (Sanskrit: पद्म, romanized: Padma, lit. 'Lotus') or Kamala (Sanskrit: कमल, lit. 'Lotus'), sacred lotus, pink lotus, Indian lotus, or simply lotus, is one of two extant species of aquatic plant in the family Nelumbonaceae. It is sometimes colloquially called water lily, though this more often refers to members of the family Nymphaeaceae. The lotus belongs in the order Proteales.
Excerpt from “Nelumbo nucifera” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Sa Tagalog
Ang Nelumbo nucifera, o Lotus sa ingles at Padma sa malalim na Tagalog at Takay naman sa wikang Bikolano ay tinatawag ding sagradong padma, Indiyanong padma, o sa simpleng katawagang lotus, ay isa sa dalawang umiiral na uri ng halamang nabubuhay sa tubig sa pamilyang Nelumbonaceae . Minsan ito ay kolokyal na tinatawag na water lily, bagama't mas madalas itong tumutukoy sa mga miyembro ng pamilyang Nymphaeaceae . Ang mga halamang lotus ay iniangkop upang tumubo sa mga kapatagan ng baha ng mabagal na paggalaw ng mga ilog at mga lugar ng imos.
Sipi mula sa “Padma (Lotus)” sa Tagalog Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Recorded in the Philippines
GBIF holds 53 records of this plant from the Philippines. The ones with map coordinates fall in 7 provinces: Laguna (4), Metropolitan Manila (3), Rizal (3), Ilocos Norte (2), Leyte (2), Batangas (1), Zamboanga del Sur (1).
Counts from GBIF occurrence records, October 2026. They include planted trees and garden plants, and a province with no records may only lack collectors.
What the 1901 book says
A historical record, quoted as printed. Doses and remedies here are not medical advice.
Uses
An infusion of the flowers is used internally in dysentery. In India they use, for diarrhœa and vomiting, the viscid juice obtained from the petioles and the peduncles of the flowers. The rootstock contains a large quantity of starch which has been utilized for food in the periods of famine which have desolated India and Egypt. This flower was the Sacred Lotus of the Egyptians and the people of India have dedicated it to Lakshmi, the goddess of health and prosperity.
[table omitted; see the source text]
Botanical description
An aquatic plant with fleshy rootstock which creeps along the muddy bottoms; from its nodes spring the stalks of the leaves and flowers. Its leaves are alternate, polymorphous, some above and some below the surface of the water, concave in the center whence ribs separate, shield-shaped. Petioles very long, bearing soft, short spines. The flowers white or pink, solitary; peduncle long and, like the petioles, covered with soft, short spines. Calyx of 4–5 unequal sepals, imbricated. Corolla with an indefinite number of unequal petals, the inner ones shorter. Stamens indefinite, inserted in the base of the receptacle. Receptacle expanded above the andrœcium, in the form of an inverted cone, containing a large number of alveoli with circular openings.
Recent research
The most cited papers since 2022 that name this plant in the title, pulled from Europe PMC in October 2026. Titles are the authors' own and the findings have not been reviewed here.
- Effects of polypropylene, polyvinyl chloride, polyethylene terephthalate, polyurethane, high-density polyethylene, and polystyrene microplastic on Nelumbo nucifera (Lotus) in water and sediment
- Potential hypoglycemic, hypolipidemic, and anti-inflammatory bioactive components in Nelumbo nucifera leaves explored by bioaffinity ultrafiltration with multiple targets
- Lotus (Nelumbo nucifera Gaertn.) and Its Bioactive Phytocompounds: A Tribute to Cancer Prevention and Intervention