Journal of Experimental Botany, Vol. 60, No. 9, pp. 2461–2464, 2009
doi:10.1093/jxb/erp166
PLANT CULTURE
Symbolism of plants: examples from European-Mediterranean culture
presented with biology and history of art
Riklef Kandeler1 and Wolfram R. Ullrich2*
1
2
Institute of Botany, University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences, Gregor Mendelstr. 33, 1180 Wien, Austria
Institute of Botany, Darmstadt University of Technology, Kirchbergweg 6, D-64287 Darmstadt, Germany
JULY: Lotus
On hot summer days we like to see our ponds and small
eutrophic lakes covered with the white, pink or yellow flowers
of water lilies. Everybody knows how Claude Monet became
so fascinated by his ‘nymphe´as’ that he painted them in all
situations, but the Nymphaeaceae have played a role in
symbolism for over 4000 years. Even more important in Asian
culture, particularly in Buddhism, has been the Indian lotus,
Nelumbo nucifera (Nelumbonaceae). In literature and
mythology, the term lotus (in Greek lotos) has been used to
cover both families, relating the high symbolic and cultural
importance of the lotus in great parts of the world.
Biology, water lilies (Nymphaeaceae)
All the nymphaeas live in still or slow water and have
a condensed shoot apical meristem underwater close to the
substrate. The stems, petioles, and leaves are characterized
by wide and efficient tracts of aerenchyma and the leaves,
and usually the flowers, float on the water surface due to
their high intercellular air content. Their ‘homobaric’, i.e.
widely interconnected, intercellular system enables them to
send oxygen-enriched air by ‘pressurized ventilation’ from
the younger leaves to the subaquatic parts which live in an
almost anaerobic stagnant environment (Dacey, 1981;
Armstrong et al., 1996; Grosse, 1996; Colmer, 2003). In the
Nile delta, two species predominate, Nymphaea caerulea
and N. lotus. N. caerulea has entire or obtuse-dentate leaves
and the blue petals are pointed (Fig. 1, left), N. lotus has
sharply dentate leaves and the white petals are broadly
rounded at the end (Fig. 1, right). Both of them release
a pleasant fragrance. Nymphaeas have long had a particular
significance as intoxicants for shamans because of their
alkaloid and glycoside content. They contain compounds
similar to atropin and papaverin (nupharin, nymphalin,
ellagic acid) (Roth et al., 1994).
Symbolism: nymphaea flowers in pharaonic
Egypt
The flowers of the blue water lily emerge out of the water in
the morning and recede back into the water at noon. Thus
they became a symbol of the sun rising out of the night, as
well as the continual renewal of life. The Egyptian symbol
of eternal life, the ‘ankh’, possibly a magic knot in older
depictions (Lurker, 1987), was composed of three plant
stems or petioles knotted together, very likely from lotus.
The sacredness of lotus plants in pharaonic Egypt was
possibly also due to their use as drugs by priests and
shamans who used the plant as an intoxicant for trances
and to make contact with the other world.
As a state symbol, intertwined lotus and papyrus plants
were used to symbolize the union of upper and lower Egypt.
However, more familiar was the use of both Nymphea
species for funeral rites. Close to Saqqara, south of Cairo,
in limestone relief on a tomb (2500 BC), the flowers of both
lotus species were reproduced rather precisely (Fig. 2).
Within the tomb, lotus flowers and various food items were
placed close to the feet of the deceased, apparently to feed
both spirit and body in the after-life. In an older limestone
relief (c. 2600 BC), probably from the area of Memphis
(also in lower Egypt), the deceased is shown on a boat-trip
with the water surface being almost completely covered with
the blue lotus.
More than 1000 years later, in the grave of Tut-ankhAmun (Valley of the Kings, Egypt 1347–1338 BC) Howard
Carter found wreaths of dry flowers some of which were N.
caerulea (Newberry, 1973) on the second and the innermost
coffin. The innermost coffin contained a large flower collar
with rows of lotus petals, a symbol of revival and
reanimation (Lurker, 1987). Hence, in ancient Egypt, the
lotus, most commonly N. caerulea, was used widely as
religious and ceremonial icon.
* To whom correspondence should be addressed: E-mail: [email protected]
ª The Author [2009]. Published by Oxford University Press [on behalf of the Society for Experimental Biology]. All rights reserved.
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2462 | Plant Culture
Fig. 1. (Left) Blue Egyptian lotus, Nymphaea caerulea. (Right) White Egyptian lotus, N. lotus. Botanical Garden, University of Vienna
(Kandeler).
Fig. 2. Limestone relief in a grave near Saqqara, Egypt, c. 2500
BC. On the left can be seen Nymphaea caerulea and N. lotus
(Lange and Hirmer, 1967).
Biology: Indian lotus
The white or pink flowers of Nelumbo nucifera emerge out
of the water like the peltate leaves (Figs 3, 4). The floral axis
is in the form of a solid inverted cone on whose flat upper
side the carpels recede into holes during the ripening process
(Fig. 3). Indian lotus is widely distributed in stagnant waters
on the Indian subcontinent and in South-East Asia. It was
also introduced into Egypt at around the time of the Persian
hegemony (5th century BC) (Germer, 1985), although it no
longer grows there today. In recent years, Nelumbo is again
in the news, as the inspiration for a modern engineering
innovation. The waxes of its leaf cuticle have a very efficient
water- and dirt-repellent structure and this ‘lotus effect’
Fig. 3. Indian lotus, Nelumbo nucifera. Botanical Garden, University of Bonn (Ullrich).
(Fig. 4) is now imitated on superior glass and for other
‘stay-clean’ surfaces (Barthlott and Neinhuis, 1997).
Symbolism: Indian lotus
In Hinduism since antiquity the Indian lotus has been
a particularly sacred plant (Beuchert, 2004). It was regarded
as the first-born of creation and as the magic womb of the
universe and the gods. In Buddhism, the Indian lotus also
has a central significance (Beuchert, 2004). Buddha strode
over seven lotus flowers when he was born and with the
Bodhisattvas (future Buddhas) and various saints he was
often depicted as sitting on lotus flowers (Fig. 5) or on the
flat top of the gynaecium (Fig. 3) (Majupuria and Joshi,
Plant Culture | 2463
Fig. 4. Indian lotus plant, peltate leaves with a structured hydrophobic cuticle, responsible for the famous lotus effect. Botanical
Garden, University of Bonn (Ullrich).
1988). So important has the lotus been to Indian culture
that it has been adopted as the flower of India, to represent
not only divinity and enlightenment, but also fertility due to
its fecundity and the design of its gynaecium, long life and
knowledge due to its longevity, and wealth associated with
its many culinary uses.
Once introduced into Egypt, the Indian lotus replaced the
native species in the cult of Isis in the 1st century BC. Isis
became not only the protective goddess and divine mother
but also the ruler of the underworld and queen of heaven
(Helck, 1979), the Indian lotus flower being one of her most
important attributes (Witt, 1997).
As the Christian church grew it, too, adopted the lotus
as a potent symbol. At the Christian Council of Ephesus in
431 AD, St Mary was designated as ‘Theotokos’ (the
Bearer of God). The subsequent flush of church building
dedicated to St Mary incorporated the image of the lotus.
A good example is Panagia Theotokos (now Panagia
Achiropiitos) in Thessaloniki, 450–460 AD. In the central
arcade sit two dishes from which lotus leaves, flowers,
and fruits are sprouting around the central golden cross
(Fig. 6).
Fig. 5. Buddha sitting on a pedestal formed from a stylized lotus
flower, in his hands the typical beggar’s bowl. Bronze sculpture, T’ang
period (Chinese), 7th to 9th century AD. (Hájek and Forman, 1954).
Fig. 6. Mosaic in Panagia Theotokos, Thessaloniki, central arcade
(450–460 AD). Two dishes with leaves and flowers of Indian lotus
and two ears of grain each. (Kandeler).
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