1. Nelumbo lutea Willd. (American lotus, yanquapin, water chinquapin, lotus lily)

N. nucifera Gaertn. ssp. lutea (Willd.) Borsch & Barthlott

Pl. 458 g; Map 2083

Leaves with the petioles smooth. Flower stalks smooth. Tepals (except the outermost) cream-colored to pale yellow (sometimes with pinkish margins), the longest tepal 7–12 cm, the outermost tepals tending to persist at fruiting. Anthers with the sterile appendage 3–5 mm long. Receptacle with 8–32 embedded pistils, becoming enlarged to 10 cm at fruiting, tapering from slightly below the rim to the base, the sides usually shallowly fluted longitudinally, smooth. Fruits 9–16 mm long, 6–13 mm wide, mostly nearly circular in outline. 2n=16. June–September.

Scattered nearly throughout the state (eastern U.S. west to Nebraska and Texas; Mexico, Central America, Caribbean Islands). Ponds, lakes, sloughs, oxbows, sinkhole ponds, and marshes.

Because of its large size and aquatic habit, N. lutea is undercollected and more widespread in the state than the distribution map for the species indicates. Some botanists have applied the older name, N. pentapetala Walter, to this taxon, but D. B. Ward (1977) presented a compelling argument that Walter’s description is of uncertain application, having been based all or in part on material of N. nucifera.