Where does the lotus live? Nut lotus

Lotus - the sacred flower of Buddhism surprises scientists all over the world; its leaves and petals always remain clean. The flower serves as a symbol of the spirit, rising above the sensory world, since it retains its unsullied White flower emerging from muddy water. This is explained by its rough surface, visible through a microscope, from which all dirt is washed off by rain.

Photo of a pink lotus in the sun. For three days, soft pink or white flowers open in all their splendor in the morning and close in the evening. But already on the fourth day beautiful flowers wither. And this is not surprising, because lotus flowers spent a lot of energy...

Lotus is a relative of water lilies and grows in Africa in the waters of the Nile River. The lotus leaves are concave in the middle, 1.5 m wide, and its pinkish or white flowers reach 35 cm in diameter. When the Nile flooded, carrying fertile silt to the fields, lotuses began to bloom along the banks of the river, in ditches and ditches. Since ancient times, a proverb has been preserved: “There will be many lotuses on the water, and there will be great fertility.”

The ancient Greek historian Herodotus wrote: “When a river overflows its banks and floods the plain, trees grow on the water. large quantities lilies, called "lotus" by the Egyptians. They cut them, dry them in the sun, then break the poppy-like seeds extracted from the middle of the lotus and prepare a dough that is baked over a fire. The root of this plant is also edible and has a rather pleasant sweetish taste, it is round and the size of an apple." The plant gave people tasty food and a cure for many diseases.

Lotus flowers are amazingly beautiful and always face the sun. Purity and beauty are what make it sacred. Although the lotus grows from muddy water, it always remains dry and radiates purity and freshness. The reason for this is the special structure of its petals and leaves: they can repel water and self-clean. The water collects in drops and flows off, collecting everything from the leaf that could contaminate it.

The sacred lotus flower has been worshiped for many centuries; it has occupied an honorable place in religious rites, traditions and legends, as evidenced by numerous monuments of writing, architecture and art. More than five and a half thousand years ago, the Egyptians depicted lotuses on tombs, and on the altars of sacrifices it symbolized the resurrection from the dead, although in Egyptian hieroglyphs it meant joy and pleasure. Women, going to visit, decorated their hair with lotus flowers and held their bouquets in their hands.

The sacred lotus of the ancient Egyptians, from which the god Ra was born and which served as the throne for the fertility goddess Isis and the sun god Osiris, who was depicted sitting on a lotus leaf, and the god of Light of the Mountains - on a flower. This expressed the connection of the flower with the sun, which, like the water lily flower, opens in the morning and sinks into the water in the evening. Even in ancient times, the Egyptians noticed that the lotus is very light-loving; it can open both at sunrise and at moonrise.

The flower became a symbol of Egypt and since ancient times the state emblem has featured five lotus flowers, and the scepter - a sign of the power of the Egyptian pharaohs - was made in the form of a flower on a long stem. The flower and buds were stamped on Egyptian coins; its image was used to decorate the columns of Egyptian palaces and temples, at the base of which there were lotus leaves, and in the upper part - a bunch of stems with flowers and buds.

In addition to the white one, in the Nile Valley there is also a blue Nile lotus, which the Egyptians call the “heavenly lily”, and even bright red lotuses grow in Tibet, India and Mongolia. In India they are loved and revered, and are still chanted in ritual dances. The red lotus is still an emblem modern India. There is even a saying: “Lotus flowers are a ship on which a drowning person in the ocean of life can find his salvation.”

The mythopoetic tradition of Ancient India represented the earth as a giant lotus blooming on the surface of the waters, and heaven as a huge lake overgrown with beautiful pink lotuses, where righteous, pure souls live.

The ancient Indian epic Mahabharata describes a lotus that had a thousand petals, shone like the sun and scattered a delicious aroma around. This lotus, according to legend, lengthened life and restored youth and beauty.

The white lotus is an indispensable attribute of divine power. In India, a flower is a symbol of purity - growing out of dirt, it is never dirty, and therefore it is compared to a chaste person to whom no filth sticks. Indian mythology endowed the goddess Sri, or Lakshmi, the wife of Vishnu, who was considered the patroness of fertility and prosperity, with such chastity. She was called “lotus born”, “standing on the lotus”, “lotus colored”. In one of the temple medallions, Goddess Sri is depicted standing on a lotus. Surrounded by leaves and flowers, she swims across the ocean.

Many Indian gods have traditionally been depicted standing or sitting on a lotus or holding a flower in their hand. Buddha sits on it and Brahma rests. Vishnu, the demiurge of the universe, holds a lotus in one of his four hands. “Lotus goddesses” are depicted with a flower in their hair. A copious rain of lotuses fell from the sky at the moment of Buddha's birth, and wherever the divine newborn set foot, a huge lotus grew.

And in China, the lotus was revered as a sacred plant. There, the flower also personifies purity, chastity, fertility, and productive power. In addition, it is a symbol of summer and is one of the eight emblems of successful prediction.

In Taoist folklore, the virtuous maiden He Xiangu was depicted holding in her hands the “flower of open heartfulness” - a lotus or a staff with elements of this flower. Its image plays an important role in Chinese and Buddhist art, in particular in painting: - ancient Chinese artists painted a lotus lake in the western part of the sky. The lotus growing on this lake, according to their ideas, communicated with the soul of a deceased person. Depending on the degree of a person’s virtue in earthly life, flowers bloomed or withered.

Colorful photos of blooming lotuses will give you happiness and good luck in your quest to comprehend all the secrets of nature. .

Lotus in human life

How medicinal plant, the flower was known in China several thousand years before new era. In traditional Chinese, Indian, Vietnamese, Arabic, and Tibetan medicine, all parts of the plant were used to prepare medicines - whole seeds or their large mealy germs, receptacle, petals, pedicels, stamens, pistils, leaves, roots and rhizomes.

In addition, it is a valuable food and dietary plant. Its root and fruits are used as food. After successful pollination, the plant produces edible seeds the size of a hazelnut. Boiled in sugar, they are considered a favorite children's treat in Asia.

In Japan and China, various dishes are also prepared from the roots and leaves of this plant. Rural populations in China, India and Japan still use their seeds and rhizomes to make flour and obtain starch, sugar and oil. The rhizomes are often used to make soup or serve as a side dish. They say that among the confectionery products in China, candied lotus rhizomes cut into small slices, reminiscent of marmalade in taste, are famous. In addition, the Chinese eat the stamens and stem, believing that this food restores beauty and youth to old people. Chinese women decorate themselves with its flowers, as the ancient Egyptians and Phoenicians once did.

In Ancient Greece, stories were widespread about people eating lotus - "lotophagi" ("lotus eaters"). According to legend, anyone who tastes lotus flowers will never want to part with the homeland of this flower.

An ordinary lotus has fruits that are not sweet, but the lotus flower is another species (lotus tree) that has sweet fruits. The lotus tree, along with the flower, has considerable symbolism. In the same Greek mythology, the nymph Lotis (Lotis), fleeing from Priapus who was pursuing her, turned into a lotus tree.

It is not without reason that in almost all traditions the lotus is a symbol of purity. He is able to cleanse the space around him from negative vibrations. The aura of this plant exudes such a powerful energy field that no evil can coexist next to it. The room where the lotus is located becomes sacred just from its presence, which is why the lotus is so often used to consecrate the altar.

The lotus is often used to protect against witchcraft. The biofield of this plant is capable of neutralizing any negative energies. Where the lotus is located, no black magic works; any attempts to create any evil will be nullified.

Lotus is often used to get rid of depression, melancholy and sadness. Moreover, its property is such that it brings you out of a depressed state very smoothly, gradually. This allows the human body and psyche to correctly adapt to the surrounding reality. But if you come out of depression abruptly, that is, from melancholy immediately into wild joy, then this will only give a negative result, since this is already an extreme, while health is harmony.

The lotus aura can change a person’s consciousness and direct his thoughts to more spiritual spheres. It is not without reason that in the East, from ancient times to this day, the lotus has served as the most popular symbol of Spiritual development, as well as a symbol of almost all Eastern deities.

The use of lotus is especially recommended for those people who are too mired in the material world, who all the time think only about work, money and profit, completely forgetting about the second side of their personality - the spiritual. If such a person carries lotus petals with him or sits near this plant for at least half an hour, then gradually his character and consciousness will change. His nature will become more refined, he will gradually begin to turn his attention to spiritual matters.

Lotus Life Power

In 1881, during excavations of the tomb of Pharaoh Ramses II and Princess Nsi-Khonsu, several dried blue lotus buds were found, which had lain in the ground for 3,000 years and retained their color. Among the dazzling riches of the tomb, these flowers made the greatest impression. This is Magic force and the charm of flowers.

Sometimes lotus seeds are stored for hundreds of years and are fraught with scientific sensation. In 1933, magazines reported that Indian lotus plants, the seeds of which were four centuries old, were blooming in Kew Botanical Gardens near London. When scientists doubted such a statement and decided to test it experimentally, they managed to germinate seeds that were 1040 years old!

American scientists from the University of California managed to grow healthy young plant from a 1,228-year-old lotus seed that was kept as a relic in one of the museums. They germinated the seed in four days, the small seed sprouted as if it had been born quite recently. Before the start of this experiment, several more ancient lotuses were grown from seeds brought from the Beijing Institute of Botany, from seeds of no less “venerable” age. This is probably the oldest germinated seed. It was found in a dry lotus pond in China. The seed lay there for many hundreds of years, and after four days it released a small green sprout.

Dropping my sleepy head
Under the fire of the day's rays,
Waiting for the twinkling nights.
And it just floats out
Red moon in the sky
He raises his head
Waking up from sleep.
Glistens on fragrant leaves
His dew is pure tears,
And he trembles lovingly,
Looking sadly into the heavens.
G. Heine

The lotus, the sacred flower of the East, attracts many pilgrims who want to touch this shrine. Even people far from Buddhism, mysticism and other spiritual materialism will not remain indifferent if they see this incredibly beautiful picture at least once.

However, not every enlightened adept knows that you don’t need to travel to distant countries to admire blooming lotuses! Lotuses also grow in Russia. In order to enjoy this spectacle with your own eyes, you just need to guess the flowering time and use a map of the area.

Picking lotuses is a stupid task, because the flower dries up after a few hours. But you need to see them live at least once - no photo or video footage will convey the honey-spicy aroma of flowers, the tenderness of their petals, the warmth of leaves velvety to the touch. In short, everyone should take the chance and see this miracle with their own eyes.

In order to lively admire the flowering of this exotic plant for many, it is enough to visit the Krasnodar region, Astrakhan region and the Far East in the summer, where this tropical plant adapted back in the Cretaceous period of the Mesozoic era and is still growing.

It is pleasant to note that some lotus lakes appeared thanks to the labors and efforts of man.

Lotuses in Russia: see with your own eyes

Astrakhan region

July-September

Volga Delta (For example, N46 13.632 E48 31.92). Lotuses are widespread in the delta almost everywhere, growing in ilmens, bays, on the seashore, along the banks of numerous channels

Erik Nikitin (you need to get to the village of Laborfront by crossing Bakhtemir by ferry) and then navigate the place

Erike Koshevanka, where it’s even easier to get to. It is enough to leave Astrakhan through the northern part and go east. Before Volodarsky you need to turn south and, having passed the villages of Old Altynzhar and Altynzhar, in the Tumak area turn right onto the bridge over Koshevanka. The Lotus Valley is located on both sides of the bridge (N46 14.077 E48 31.627)

Uvary village (Kamyzyaksky district)

Krasnodar region

: end of June – mid-August

A pond with lotuses is located near the village of Sheremetyevskoye (Tbilisi district). The lake is located near the P-251 Temryuk-Krasnodar-Kropotkin highway

Sinyukha River (Tbilisi region). The place is interesting because white, yellow and pink lotuses of two types bloom there (Far Eastern and Caspian)

Akhtanizovsky estuary (Temryuk district)

Stanitsa Golubitskaya (Temryuk district)

Stanitsa Maryanskaya (Krasnodar region)

Staronizhesteblievskaya village (Krasnoarmeisky district). Alexander Palchik created a miracle

Belozerny village (10 km from Krasnodar). The lake is located on the left after the village, next to it is a blue and white chapel

Krasnodar. Lotuses and water lilies grow in the Safari Park on Sunny Island

Taman. Having driven along the Temryuk-Strelka road, near the bridge over Kazachiy Erik you need to take the exit and follow the signs “Lotuses”. The path from there will run through a man-made canal (it was dug by the Cossacks more than 200 years ago to connect the Akhtanizovsky estuary with the fresh water of the Kuban River). By small boat the journey to the valley will take about 15 minutes

Botanical Garden of Kuban State University

Amur region

mid-July – mid-August

Lake Dolgoe (Arkharinsky district) territory of the Khingansky nature reserve. This reserve contains the largest lotus thickets

The village of Ivanovka (Ivanovsky district). Artificial lake located on the territory of the park of culture and recreation

The village of Sagibovo (Arkharinsky district). Lake Krivoye

The village of Voikovo (Konstantinovsky district). Lake Osinovoye

Lake Smirnovo (Mikhailovsky district). The lake is located 7 km from the village of Kalinino

Lake Tsvetochnoe (Arkharinsky district). The lake is located 25 km from the village. Novopokrovka

Zeya River

Primorsky Krai

Flowering time: mid-July – mid-August

Lesnoye village (Lesozavodsky district)

Lake Shtany (Yakovlevsky district)

Lake Khanka

Hand of Ussuri

Prikhankai lowland

Khasansky district

City of Arsenyev. A few years ago, thanks to young naturalists, several lotuses appeared on the lake

Arsenyevka River

The village of Andreevka (Yakovlevsky district). Lotuses can be seen in Lake Bolshoye (however, this lake could not be found on maps)

Kirovsky district. Lakes in the area of ​​the village of Pavlo-Fedorovka, in the village of Lugovoi and on Ostaya Sopka

Okeanskaya station (suburb of Vladivostok). Here, in a fenced area near the sea, there is a small lake covered with dense thickets of lotus

Putyatin Island. Lotus Lake is located on Putyatina Island, where tourists are transported by boat for a small sum (make sure to stock up rubber boots). You can also get to the island from the Danube village by ferry

The village of Novogordeevka (Anuchinsky district, Arsenyevskaya highway). The lake is next to the road

Razdolnoye village (Nadezhdinsky district). Four kilometers from Razdolnoye there is a lotus lake

Village of Kronshtadtka (Spassky district)

Khabarovsk region

Flowering time: late July – early August

Amur River basin

Lake near the village of Nikolaevka (Smidovichi district). The lake can be found by driving along the Birobidzhan highway

Lake near the village of Galkino (Khabarovsk region). Turning near the village towards the Khabarovsk - Komsomolsk-on-Amur highway, you need to drive 5 minutes. Here the lotus is grown artificially

Sheremetyevo Lakes

Lake Vidnoye

Ussuriysky Island

Pemzenskaya channel

Village Ulika-National

Bureya River

LOTUS, LOTUS a, m. lotus, lotos m. lat. lotus, gr. 1. South water plant with large flowers, considered sacred in some countries. Sl. 18. Lotus. An Egyptian plant, divided into many generations... The most glorious of these, growing on... ... Historical Dictionary of Gallicisms of the Russian Language

- (Greek lotos). A plant from the family. pitcher; among the Egyptians and Hindus it is revered as a sacred object. The land of the lotus is a fabulous land of lotophages, so charming that it made foreigners forget about their fatherland. Dictionary of foreign words,... ... Dictionary of foreign words of the Russian language

Lotus- (Gelendzhik, Russia) Hotel category: Address: Sovetskaya Street 77, Gelendzhik, Russia ... Hotel catalog

Genus of perennial amphibians herbaceous plants lotus family. The flowers are large, up to 30 cm in diameter. 2 species, in temperate and tropical zones of both hemispheres. In South East. Asia, Northeast Australia and southern Europe, including the Volga delta,... ... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary

The main and, apparently, original value of this mythopoetic symbol the creative force associated with the feminine principle, hence the more special symbolic meanings L.: the womb as the birthplace of life; fertility, prosperity, offspring, longevity... Encyclopedia of Mythology

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LOTUS, lotus, husband. (Greek: lotos). The name of several species of flowering herbaceous marsh and aquatic plants of hot countries with edible fruits, from the family. water lilies. Egyptian lotus. Indian lotus. Ushakov's explanatory dictionary. D.N. Ushakov. 1935... ... Ushakov's Explanatory Dictionary

The rhizomes of this water lily, of East Asian origin, are often used in Chinese and Japanese cuisine. As a rule, perforated rhizomes are cut into transverse slices, which thanks to this look decorated with a decorative pattern.… … Culinary dictionary

LOTUS- “I love one (one) you very much” tattoo. LOTUS Leningrad Regional Fuel Union http://www.lots.spb.ru/​ energy. LOTUS summer group of work and recreation for high school students... Dictionary of abbreviations and abbreviations

Books

• Lotus of Brahma. Dilogy (Seven days in the Himalayas. Signs of Christ), Sidorov Valentin Mitrofanovich. The fates of the documentary stories that formed the duology developed differently. The first - "Seven Days in the Himalayas" - miraculously broke through the censorship slingshots, was published in 1982 in...

The Chinese are convinced: this flower grows not only on earth, but also in heaven, in paradise. The lotuses that adorn the heavenly lakes are actually the souls of people. Plants in which righteous souls are embodied always bloom and smell fragrant, but lotuses in which sinners find themselves wither quickly: the climate of paradise is categorically unsuitable for them.

This flower is admired, admired, and worshiped: after all, the lotus is a symbol of the gods. In different religions it has its own meaning and means life, rebirth, purity, oblivion, peace, fertility, and some peoples consider it as the interaction of the male and female principles.

In reality, this incredibly beautiful flower is perennial plant, belongs to the genus Dicotyledons, is the only representative of the lotus family and comes in yellow or Pink colour(It is interesting that white, red and blue water lilies are also sometimes classified as lotuses).

These amazing plants grow only in water - in river deltas, in muddy channels, creeks, sometimes they can be seen high in the mountains (for example, in India this flower feels great at an altitude of one and a half kilometers).

Lotuses are heat-loving plants, demanding and do not grow everywhere (which is why they are included in the Red Book): yellow prefers water bodies of the Southern and Central America, Jamaica, Hawaii, while pink can often be seen in Asia, Japan, India, and has reached Australia. It also blooms in Russia - in the Volga delta, on Far East, in Kuban, where on the Taman Peninsula there is an incredibly beautiful water garden: the amazing Lotus Valley.

Looks like blooming lotus in the following way:

• Among the bright green leaves floating on the surface of the water there is a large flower, about 30 cm in diameter, always turned towards the sun. The smell of lotus flowers is not strong, but extremely pleasant;
• The plant has a yellow corolla surrounded by several rows of petals in delicate pink or yellow shades. The tone of the petal near the base is much richer than at the edge;
• The rhizome of the plant is thick, long (in some species the length can exceed 350 km) - the flower needs such dimensions in order to be able to reach the bottom and extract nutrients from the soil;
• The petals and leaves of the lotus are covered with a waxy coating, so under the sun's rays they glow and shimmer like mother-of-pearl, while water does not linger on them and rolls off like mercury; Above-water lotus leaves, about 70 cm long, rise several centimeters above those in the water; lotus leaves immersed in water have a scale-like shape;
• The seeds of the plant look like dark-colored nuts: they have a woody skin with a small hole for the embryo. Interesting fact: Once upon a time, seeds were discovered in the peat bogs of China that were over a thousand years old. After they were planted, the flower sprouted and blossomed.

Representatives of the lotus family

Despite the fact that a blooming lotus happens different colors, there are only two species of representatives of the lotus family.

Nut lotus

The significance of the pink lotus is great because it means Buddha: when he was born, an incredibly beautiful rain of petals fell on the earth. beautiful plant. Subsequently, absolutely all significant events that took place in his life were marked by the appearance of heavenly petals. For Hindus, a pink lotus signifies a person's attempt to approach nirvana (Buddha was the first mortal to achieve this state).

Despite the fact that the Indian lotus is listed in the Red Book of Russia, the halo of its distribution is extensive: from the tropical and temperate regions of Asia to Australia.

The plant begins to bloom in the second half of summer and throughout the entire period its petals constantly change their color: if at first they are bright pink, then they gradually become white.

Despite the fact that this plant grows mainly only in warm countries, in the south of Russia there is a magnificently beautiful water garden; the pink lotus has so successfully taken root near the Akhatanizovsky estuary on the Taman Peninsula that it has formed an incredibly beautiful area called the Lotus Valley.

Lotus Valley is completely covered with floating green leaves. They are decorated with the most delicate pink flowers, opening at dawn and closing in the afternoon into a dense bud. The pink lotus blooms for about four to five days, after which the petals fall off. Due to the fact that the rhizome of the plant is constantly growing, roots, leaves and one peduncle appear at each node, thanks to which the Lotus Valley blooms until September.

Lotus yellow (American)

The yellow flower is common on the South American continent and the islands nearby. In terms of its characteristics, this species is similar to the Indian one, only the emergent leaves of the lotus are more durable, and the flower smells stronger.

Water lilies

Lotuses include white, red and even blue lotuses. The red lotus is a symbol of India (in books it symbolizes not only the original nature and purity of the heart, but is also the lotus of love, compassion, passion, in a word, its meaning contains all the properties of the heart). It is believed that the present lives in the rays of the Red Sun, and Buddha Shakmuni reigns over all things, whose throne is the Red Lotus.

But the ancient Egyptians believed that the white lotus symbolized sleep and sweet oblivion, since the Nile white lotus, unlike its relatives, opened only at night. Whereas the Chinese and Japanese still eat the candied roots of this water lily, believing that the white lotus will prolong their youth and preserve their beauty for as long as possible.

But the most important thing for the ancients (judging by the books) was the blue lotus - it symbolized immortality, since it was able to survive and continue to grow even after a long drought.

The blue lotus amazed with the ability of its seeds to remain viable for for long years(the blue lotus of the ancient Egyptians often decorated tombs and sarcophagi). The Chinese believed that the blue lotus was a symbol female beauty, and the Hindus went even further: their goddess Brahma, the creator of the universe, arose from a lotus flower.

In addition to its symbolic meaning, the blue lotus also had a practical meaning: perfumes, various drinks and smoking mixtures have long been made from its petals. Interestingly, several years ago the blue lotus was included in the list of narcotic drugs both its petals and leaves were prohibited for consumption.

True, a year later the ban was lifted, but its characterization as a plant containing narcotic and psychotropic substances, and therefore requiring supervision, remained.

Medicinal plant

The flower, listed in the Red Book, contains not only narcotic, but also biologically active substances, protein, manganese, copper, oils, vitamin C. Therefore, doctors recommend using its tinctures as a tonic, cardiotonic, and general strengthening agent.

It is known that ancient healers used this plant even as a diuretic and hemostatic agent, prescribed for severe exhaustion or malaise to stimulate immune system humans - in a word, in the treatment of diseases, the blue lotus (as, indeed, other types of plants) was of no small importance.

Residents of Asian countries grow and use it as a vegetable: the roots are boiled, fried, pickled, eaten raw, starch, flour and oil are extracted. The leaves are used instead of asparagus, delicacies are prepared from the seeds, and even marmalade is made.

How to grow a symbol of the gods

Since this amazing flower is a plant that lives only in bodies of water, few people think of the idea of ​​growing lotuses at home. There are such lovers - moreover, among them there are experimenters who managed to grow this flower in a bathtub (however, then they still had to take the plant to the pond).

In order for the embryo to “wake up” faster, you need to saw off the peel from the blunt end of the lotus seed, and then place the seeds in a jar of water. In about five days, a sprout will emerge from the seed and begin to grow. Having reached the surface of the water, the sprout will begin to unfold, forming a small lotus leaf.

Plants should be planted in a pond only in the warm season, when the danger of late frosts has disappeared (it is advisable that the water temperature at a depth of 0.5 meters be about 30 degrees). Sprouts should be planted only in shallow water, carefully immersed in the soil to a depth of about six centimeters, so that the leaves remain on the surface (otherwise the young plant, not being able to gain a foothold with its roots, will drown).

When planting a plant, you need to take into account that the root can “fall asleep” for several years and wake up only when the roots appear for its development. favorable conditions. It is not for nothing that the lotus is a symbol of rebirth, because it managed to survive the Ice Age.

Lotus is one of the most ancient flowers on earth- they already existed in the Cretaceous period, more than 100 million years ago. Their fossil remains are also found in North America, and in the Far East, and even in the Arctic. Nowadays, strictly speaking, there are only two types of purebred lotuses.

Yellow lotus (Nelumbo lute a) lives on the Atlantic coast of North and Central America, on the Hawaiian Islands. The Indians of local tribes call it "chinkepin", or small water chestnut, because of its fruits, which taste like chestnuts.

Indian lotus, or nut-bearing lotus (N. nucifera), - an inhabitant of the eastern hemisphere, he lives in the warm and hot regions of South and East Asia, southern Japan, India and China, the Philippines and northeastern Australia. This lotus also grows in our country - in the Far East, Transcaucasia and the Volga delta. True, if we are to be scrupulously precise, it should be noted that some botanists assign the status of an independent species Caspian lotus (N. caspicum).

The Volga Delta is the northernmost point of lotus distribution and the only place in Europe, where you can still see the legendary flower growing in freedom. total area The area it occupies here is about 60 hectares. The fact that you can still admire the lotus on the Volga owes much to the creation of the Astrakhan Nature Reserve - the first Soviet nature reserve, established in 1919, when the lotus here was in danger of complete extinction.

Interestingly, at the end of the 60s, the thickets of lotus flowers suddenly began to increase rapidly. At first this caused surprise, but then everything became clearer. Due to the drop in the level of the Caspian Sea, many estuaries, creeks, and shallow lakes were formed, where the water warmed up very well, creating conditions for the lotus that were close to their native and familiar ones: it loves shallow water.

And yet the lotus has a hard time; it still requires care and protection. Its flowers often perish in bouquets of exotic lovers. Lotus fields thin out even when moisture leaves when the land is drained. The nutritious rhizomes of the plant are happily eaten by various local animals, especially wild pigs (“even the dung beetle has a desire to eat honey from the lotus,” says a Bengali proverb). And livestock does not pass by the appetizing stems and rhizomes of the lotus.

So that a beautiful flower does not disappear on our land

We have to protect it by all means. And the lotus is very beautiful, especially during the flowering period, which occurs on the Volga in August. Its buds open with the first rays of the sun. At first the petals are bright pink, but gradually turn pale, and the flowering thickets turn red with the whole gamut of shades of pink. The flower heads, lush and large, about 30 cm in size, sit on long curved legs that stretch to a height of almost two meters. And under them, on long petioles, are leaves, thyroid-shaped, more than half a meter in diameter, covered with a gray-green waxy coating, with a deep depression in the middle.

Some leaves are floating, some are underwater. Lotus flowers always face the sun: they, as botanists say, have positive heliotropism. Just below the place where the flower is attached to the peduncle, there is a kind of sensitive receiver of light radiation. It is in this place that the flower changes its position, following the luminary floating across the sky.

When the lotus petals fall, the receptacle grows and becomes like the funnel of a home shower, only with holes facing upward, and in each hole there is a fruit. The ripe fruit breaks off, falls into the water and floats until it rots. Then the nuts fall out, sinking to the bottom. Here they can lie for a very long time - it is not for nothing that the lotus is called the record holder for seed survival.

Once in Japan, in a peat bog, three lotus seeds were found, the age of which, as radiocarbon analysis showed, was about 2 thousand years! They were surrounded by careful care, and two fruits sprouted, blossomed and grew into healthy plants...

And the lotus flower and the Buddha...

Indian legends say that immediately after birth, Buddha took seven steps on his own - and where the baby’s foot stepped, a lotus blossomed. Indian lotus flowers revered as a symbol eternal youth, they decorate the most magnificent temples, and the creator god Brahma is always depicted in the background sacred flower.

The lotus flower is central to the popular Buddhist magic spell: "om mani padme hum." It is inscribed on every object of worship, it fills prayer mills, and every devout Buddhist repeats it constantly. The original meaning of the spell is not even known to many believers, but “padme” means not only “lotus”, it also means the feminine principle. And the theme of the unity of the male (“mani”) and female (“padme”) principles, giving birth, is clearly visible in the spell new life. The legendary property of the lotus is also connected with this - it supposedly helps a person, having consigned his former sorrows to oblivion, to be reborn in a new quality.

Even in their cosmological ideas, the ancient Indians could not do without the lotus. In the form of its seven-petalled flower they depicted the inhabited world: its center was located somewhere in the Himalayas supporting the sky and in the mountains of Tibet, where, in the upper reaches of the Ganges, it rose sacred mountain Meru is the capital of the gods, and from there, like lotus petals from the center of a flower, continents stretched in different directions.

The lotus was not only worshiped - it was fed on

Man paid attention to the lotus at the very dawn of its history. During excavations, archaeologists encounter lotus seeds in the sites of people who lived 50-70 thousand years ago. It has always been a reliable help in feeding the poor people of the Eastern countries. The Bengalis still have a saying: “They say they live well, but the lotus roots have even turned their teeth black.” The centuries-old worship of the lotus is largely explained by the fact that in difficult years it saved the population from hunger. Lotus rhizomes, rich in starch, were widely consumed. They were boiled and fried, dried and ground into flour, from which flat cakes were made. To this day, peasants in China, Japan and India make flour from lotus seeds and rhizomes, prepare starch, boil sugar, and squeeze out oil.

Residents of these countries can treat themselves to a full lotus meal: the first course is soup made from rhizomes, the second is boiled with it as a side dish, an excellent substitute for potatoes, and the third is an exotic delicacy: candied slices of the same rhizomes, which taste very similar to marmalade A delicious coffee substitute has been and is being prepared from dried lotus seeds, and in Vietnam they like to drink tea with lotus seeds - they give the drink a special aroma. In China and Japan, lotus is even grown on special plantations. It is no coincidence that there are now many cultural forms of lotus.

But the peoples of the East did not only use lotus for food. In Chinese medicine, all parts of the plant are considered medicinal and are used against fever, skin ulcers, and burns. Tibetan medicine also pays considerable attention to lotus. One of the fundamental medicinal treatises says that lotus should be included in the group of medicines that cure “badkan” diseases with fever. When deciphering this treatise, carried out by scientists from Buryatia, it turned out that this group of drugs includes those that help with metabolic disorders and various inflammatory phenomena.

And in the history of the lotus...

The word “lotus” has its roots in the ancient Greek language, where it came from Hebrew. Having migrated to Latin, it spread to many countries and even in languages ​​very distant from each other - Slavic, Romance, Germanic - it retained its original appearance.

However, both the Greeks and the Romans called “lotus” not at all the same (or not only that) flower about which we're talking about. Here are “lotuses” from the ancient Greek-Russian dictionary: “Greek lotus” is a type of clover; “Lotus of Cyrene” - a tree with sweet fruits, identified with one of the representatives of the buckthorn family (it is mentioned by Homer, Herodotus, and Strabo, they also talk about a tribe of lotophages that ate the fruits of this tree); “Egyptian or Nile lotus” - a type of water lily; "African lotus" is a tree with black wood.

So historically, “lotuses” are not at all what we mean now. Apparently, such a confusion of concepts occurred due to the fact that these plants live in similar conditions, most often in water (by the way, in Latin lofio means “bathing”, “washing”). As for the real lotus, it is not a “lotus” at all. Its generic and specific name - Nelumbo - is taken from the language of the Sinhalese, the indigenous population of the island of Sri Lanka. Under this name this plant entered science. It is interesting that even in the “Dictionary of Foreign Words Included in the Russian Language”, published in 1894, there are the following explanations: “Nelumbium is a plant from the family of the same name, the Indian water lily... Lotus is a plant from the water lily family...” Others plants called lotuses are very distantly related to them.

The most famous namesake of lotuses is the white Nile lotus (Nimphaea lotus) from a completely different family - the Nymphaeaceae. It looks very similar to the Indian lotus. Thousands and four years ago, his Indian namesake appeared next to him on the Nile. It is unknown who brought it to these parts and how. But he also liked the new places, and the Egyptian fellahs liked him. And he, together with the long-familiar local lotus, began to diversify the poor man's table. Most likely, this is why he did not live to see our times on the Nile. And the native lotus is also found there less and less now.

But it, like the Indian lotus in India, has always been a sacred flower for the Egyptians: according to ancient beliefs, the main Egyptian sun god was born from a lotus flower in the thickets of the Great Nile. The cult of the lotus penetrated deeply into Egyptian life. Its flower symbolized Lower Egypt, adorned the country's coat of arms, and was minted on coins. Both the highest attribute of power - the rod of the pharaoh, and the columns of the pyramid of Djoser were copied from the stems of the sacred flower. The interweaving of its stems varied endlessly on furniture, on the handles of fans and staves, on vases and jugs made of faience, stone and gold.

The halls where the Egyptian nobility feasted were decorated with garlands of their favorite flower, and participants in the ceremonies were presented with wreaths of white lotus. The hieroglyph depicting a lotus flower was read as “joy” and “happiness.”

The Egyptians prepared flour from lotus seeds, and it often saved the poor from hunger. Fabrics were woven from lotus fibers. The life of a lotus flower is short, and if the lotuses bloomed at the same time, the Egyptians considered this a happy omen: it means that a fertile year is coming.

Lotus - a symbol of purity and love

Another species of the same family, the blue or Egyptian lotus, was also deeply revered. Its sky-blue flowers bloom during the day, as if replacing the night-blooming white Nile lotus. And its flowers were a frequent motif in painting and carving. When scientists opened the tomb of Ramses II and Princess Nsi-Khonsu, they saw several dried buds and blue lotus flowers on the half-decayed fabric of the bedspread. These three-thousand-year-old flowers have retained their almost pristine blue...

The lotus is so beautiful that when talking about it, you involuntarily fall into some sentimentality. What can you do - at all times, among all the peoples who knew it, the lotus was a symbol of purity and love; Is it possible to speak about him in cold, indifferent words?

In memory of his untimely death, the mighty Shah Jahan erected the Taj Mahal mausoleum three and a half centuries ago near Agra, along the banks of the Jamna River. Now all over the world it is called the legend of love and the swan song in marble. In the very center of the mausoleum there is a tomb decorated with lotus flowers, each of 64 precious stones. In front of the mausoleum, complementing the white marble ensemble, there is a huge pond - and it is dotted with lotus flowers, only live ones.

In Rabindranath Tagore's poem "Gifts of the Beloved" it is said about the Taj Mahal: "...You crowned formless death with immortal form." And the dome of the marble pearl of India is crowned with an inverted cup of an Indian lotus flower facing the stars.

On the lake of lotuses near Khabarovsk

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Grape

In gardens and personal plots, you can choose a warmer place for planting grapes, for example, on the sunny side of the house, garden pavilion, or veranda. It is recommended to plant grapes along the border of the site. The vines formed in one line will not take up much space and at the same time will be well lit from all sides. Near buildings, grapes must be placed so that they are not exposed to water flowing from the roofs. On level ground you need to make ridges with good drain due to drainage furrows. Some gardeners, following the experience of their colleagues from the western regions of the country, dig deep planting holes and fill them with organic fertilizers and fertilized soil. The holes, dug in waterproof clay, are a kind of closed vessel that fills with water during the monsoon rains. IN fertile land The root system of the grapes develops well at first, but as soon as waterlogging begins, it suffocates. Deep holes can play a positive role on soils where good natural drainage, permeable subsoil is provided, or reclamation artificial drainage is possible. Planting grapes

You can quickly restore an outdated grape bush using the layering method (“katavlak”). For this purpose, healthy vines of a neighboring bush are placed in grooves dug to the place where the dead bush used to grow, and covered with earth. The tip is brought to the surface, from which it then grows new bush. Lignified vines are laid on layering in the spring, and green ones - in July. They are not separated from the mother bush for two to three years. Frozen or very old bush can be restored by short pruning to healthy above-ground parts or pruning to the “black head” of an underground trunk. In the latter case, the underground trunk is freed from the ground and completely cut down. Not far from the surface, new shoots grow from dormant buds, due to which a new bush is formed. Neglected and severely frost-damaged grape bushes are restored due to stronger fatty shoots formed in the lower part of the old wood and the removal of weakened sleeves. But before removing the sleeve, a replacement is formed. Grape care

A gardener starting to grow grapes needs to thoroughly study the structure grapevine and the biology of this most interesting plant. Grapes are vine (climbing) plants and require support. But it can spread along the ground and take root, as is observed with Amur grapes in a wild state. The roots and above-ground part of the stem grow quickly, branch strongly and reach large sizes. Under natural conditions, without human intervention, a branched grape bush grows with many vines of different orders, which begins to bear fruit late and produces crops irregularly. In cultivation, grapes are shaped and the bushes are given a shape that is easy to care for, ensuring a high yield of high-quality bunches. Grapevine Planting Schisandra

Schisandra chinensis, or schisandra, has several names - lemon Tree, red grapes, gomisha (Japanese), cochinta, kodzyanta (Nanai), kolchita (Ulch), usimtya (Udege), uchampu (Oroch). In terms of structure, systemic relationship, center of origin and distribution, Schisandra chinensis has nothing in common with the real citrus plant lemon, but all its organs (roots, shoots, leaves, flowers, berries) exude the aroma of lemon, hence the name Schisandra. The schisandra vine that clings or wraps around a support along with Amur grapes and three types of actinidia is original plant Far Eastern taiga. Its fruits, like real lemons, are too sour for consumption in fresh, but they have medicinal properties, a pleasant aroma, and this attracted a lot of attention to him. The taste of Schisandra chinensis berries improves somewhat after frost. Local hunters who consume such fruits claim that they relieve fatigue, invigorate the body and improve vision. The consolidated Chinese pharmacopoeia, compiled back in 1596, states: “the fruit of Chinese lemongrass has five tastes, classified as the first category of medicinal substances. The pulp of lemongrass is sour and sweet, the seeds are bitter and astringent, and in general the taste of the fruit is salty. Thus, All five tastes are present in it." Grow lemongrass