My girlfriend tells me that one Thai word ("bua") is used for both Lotus and Water Lily. This surprises me because the Lotus has such cultural (as a Buddhist symbol) and economic (as food) significance while the ordinary Water Lily does not. Also, Lotus and Water Lilies are taxonomically quite different.

Is there really no easy way in Thai to distinguish between these two plants?

For example, if I go to a nursery and want to buy Lotus and not Water Lily, how would I say that?

Semantic boundaries do not always overlap between languages.

Here are a two lotus varieties according to my Oxford River Books English-Thai Dictionary:

Nymphaea บัวดอกสีชมพู ('pink-flowered lotus') bua dawk sii chomphuu

Nelumbo บัวดอกสีขาว ('white-flowered lotus') bua dawk sii khaaw

As for 'water lily', it just says 'bua'. I am no botanical expert so I can't tell you how to make the distinction in Thai, but would think it involves explaining the physical difference between the two.

Interesting....

Nymphaea is actually not a lotus at all. It is the water lily genus.

Nelumbo is the genus name for lotus.

However, in reading further I find that even in English, "lotus" is often mistakenly used to describe plants in the genus Nymphaea.

I just thought that since the difference between the two is so significant in Thai culture (no one would mistakenly use a Nymphaea flower as an offering or eat a Nymphaea root) there would also be a definite linguistic distinction.

Nymphaea which is the water lily genus can be บัวผัน , บัวเผื่อน , บัวสาย, etc.
Nelumbo or lotus , in Thai it's บัวหลวง
บัวหลวง can be divided into red flowered lotus and white-flowered lotus, in Thai name as ;บัวสัตตบุษย์ , บัวสัตตบงกช , บัวสัตตบรรณ , บัวลินจง , บัวจงกลนี , บัวนิลุบล, etc.
There also be บัววิคตอเรีย or บัวกระด้ง(the royal Victoria) and บัวบก(a herb of the genus Hydrocotyle)


You just tell the exact name of them that would not misunderstand.

Thank you, yoot. Very clear now.

Excellent, Khun Yoot.

i also went jto check , wanted to see which is what.... seems very hard to separate each one; also in hebrew, everything is 'nufar' (a rather nice girls' name also)... seems that the 'lotus' is the edible one; but common names use water lily interchangeably with lotus..... curiouser and curiouser

found this: http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/proceed...an%20VEGETABLES

for a few of the oriental veggies incl. lotus (propogation techniques etc)


Nelumbo nucifera
Sacred lotus -- this is the one that looks like all the paintings of the Buddha and lotuses

Nelumbo lutea American Lotus-Lily
Nelumbonaceae: Lotus-Lily Family

Nelumbo nucifera Gaertn.
Nymphaeaceae

Lotus root, East Indian lotus, Egyptian lotus, Lian, Lin ngau, Hasu, Renkon

just a scientific fix up: genus is one above and or = species
the thing that comes before genus /species is the family



Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Magnoliophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Nymphaeales
Family: Nymphaeaceae
(Nelumbonacea)
Genus: Nelumbo
Species: N. nucifera
Binomial name
Nelumbo nucifera


i know i'm obsessive about trivial info... now will check my pond to see what we have