Symbolism Nymphaea nouchali is the national flower of
Bangladesh. A pale blue-flowered
N. nouchali is the
national flower of
Sri Lanka, where it is known as
nil mānel or
nil mahanel (). In
Sri Lanka, this plant usually grows in
buffalo ponds and natural
wetlands. Its beautiful aquatic flower has been mentioned in
Sanskrit,
Pali, and
Sinhala literary works since ancient times under the names
kuvalaya,
kumuda,
indhīwara,
niluppala,
nilōtpaḷa, and
nilupul as a symbol of virtue, discipline, and purity.
Buddhist lore in Sri Lanka claims that this flower was one of the 108 auspicious signs found on Prince
Siddhartha's footprint. It is said that when Buddha died, lotus flowers blossomed everywhere he had walked in his lifetime.
Claire Waight Keller included the plant to represent Bangladesh and Sri Lanka in
Meghan Markle's wedding veil, which included the distinctive flora of each
Commonwealth country.
N. nouchali might have been one of the plants eaten by the
Lotophagi of
Homer's
Odyssey.
Horticulture N. nouchali is used as an ornamental plant because of its spectacular flowers, and is most commonly used for the traditional and cultural festivals in Sri Lanka. It is also popular as an aquarium plant under the name "dwarf lily" or "dwarf red lily". Sometimes, it is grown for its flowers, while other aquarists prefer to trim the lily pads, and just have the underwater foliage.
Herbal medicine N. nouchali is considered a medicinal plant in Indian
Ayurvedic medicine under the name
ambal; it was mainly used to treat indigestion.
Food Like all water lilies, its pear-shaped, brown cottony-covered, potato-sized
rhizomes, leaves and most of the plant are poisonous, and contain an
alkaloid called
nupharin. Unlike European species, this can (and must) be neutralised in the rhizomes of this species by boiling. In India these have been eaten as a
famine food or as a medicinal. In
Vietnam it was eaten roasted. In
Sri Lanka it was formerly eaten as a type of medicine and its price was too high to serve as a normal meal, but in the 1940s some villagers began to cultivate the water lilies in the
paddy fields left uncultivated during the
monsoon season (Yala season), and the price dropped. It is eaten boiled and in curries. The
tubers of this species are completely edible, during the
dry season they consist almost entirely of starch, and were eaten in
West Africa, usually boiled or roasted. In Bangladesh, the stems of
Nymphaea nouchali, known locally as shapla, are widely consumed as a vegetable. The dish, commonly called shaplar data, is cooked with mustard seeds, spices, and sometimes dried fish. Unlike some regions where the plant is used as a famine food, it is a regular part of rural diets and seasonal cuisine in Bangladesh. The dried plant is collected from ponds, tanks, and marshes during the dry season and used in India as animal
forage.
Heraldry Blason Antoine Dubois (1756-1837).svg|The emblem of
surgeon and
obstetrician to
Napoleon,
Baron Antoine Dubois, (1756–1837). Cyril Newall Arms.svg|Personal coat of arms of
Cyril Newall, 1st Baron Newall (1946) National emblem of Bangladesh.svg|
National Emblem of Bangladesh (1972–present) ==See also==