Earth lotuses

Earth lotuses

Dropping by Thien Huong Pagoda in Hue City I looked up at the Buddha altar and came across some quite strange white flowers. Strange because the flowers looked like lotuses, but their leaves were quite different. I am now in my sixties, to be honest, it was the first time that I had seen such strange flowers. 

“It is the earth lotus. The lotus mentioned in the folk verses: “Hôm qua tát nước đầu đình/ Bỏ quên chiếc áo trên cành hoa sen” (“Yesterday when I was emptying the pool at the communal house, I left my coat on the lotus branch”) is this flower, not the lotus in pools. Water lotuses have no branches,” said the pagoda abbot joyfully.

The abbot had just come back from the North. He had dropped by an ancient pagoda right at the time when this flower was in bloom. They presented him some to bring back to Hue. This tree gives beautiful flowers but very difficult to grow. That is why it is not well known. 

The earth lotus

According to the abbot, this flower is purely fragrant. But it is not easy to propagate. Only professionals can do that and they are not always successful. Because it is a precious species of the pagoda, it is well protected; flower cutting and layering are restricted.

Now that I can see the flower with my own eyes and I am interested in trees by nature, I researched and learn that this flower is also called sen núi, sen cạn, or mộc lan lạnh. Its scientific name is Magnolia Grandiflora. It is native to South America and was propagated to Taiwan, China, and then to some areas in our country.

The earth lotus tree gives large shade with many branches and is green all year round. Its leaves are thick, pointed, and oval in shape with one glossy green side and the other hairy and darker in color, like those of the star apple tree. 

The earth lotus

Earth lotus is a unique species. Both the tree and its flowers are beautiful. Its flowers are as big as bowls and last as long as a week. It is suitable for landscapes at home and in pagodas and parks.  

I find it strange that though this species of flower can grow well in various climates without much care and is well resistant to diseases and insects, it is rather rare in our country. Though I had traveled everywhere, North and South, I had never seen the flower before, even in Hue, which used to be the imperial capital city of the country where many strange flowers and plants gathered for the Imperial City. Writing this I hope someone will research and bring the flower to his garden and to Hue.