Curious Non-attachment

Sometimes things are not what they seem. I assumed that the lotus plants out in Lake Leatherwood are the native yellow lotus or water chinquapin (Nelumbo lutea) started from seeds dropped by a passing goose. Then I learned they were planted about 20 years ago by a well-meaning individual, which leads me to believe they could be the sacred lotus of Asia (Nelumbo nucifera).

Similarly, I assumed that the lizard's tail or water dragon plants (drooping spikes of white flowers) growing along the edge of Lake Leatherwood is the American species Saururus cernuus. Maybe they, too, are planted, and could they instead be the Asian Chinese lizard's tail, Saururus chinensis? Does it matter? Perhaps only a botanical type like me cares about their true identity.

The fascinating fact about both of these Lake Leatherwood-inhabiting plant groups is that the genus Nelumbo and the genus Saururus only contain two species each -- one native to eastern North America and the other to eastern Asia. They are remnants of a flora that covered the Northern Hemisphere about 70 million years ago that have become restricted to the eastern portions of their respective continents.

It is fascinating, too, that both American and Chinese lizard tail plants are used for similar medicinal purposes, externally as a poultice for inflammation and to aid in healing wounds. As a treatment for mastitis, the American species earned the name "breastweed."

Locally, we tend to call the large floating circular leaf plant at Leatherwood "water lilies," which they are not. It is lotus (big difference to us botanical types). The seeds (really hard nuts) and roots (actually a tuberous rhizome) of both yellow and sacred lotus are used as food on their respective continents. All parts of the sacred lotus are used in Traditional Chinese Medicine.

Among native groups of the upper Midwest, the native American yellow lotus is among plants imbued with mystical qualities. The native Asian sacred lotus is a divine symbol in Buddhist, Hindu and Confucian traditions -- associated with non-attachment. When it comes to my understanding of these two plant groups growing at Lake Leatherwood, I will practice non-attachment as to their exact identity and origin, surrendering instead to mere curiosity.