In 1986, Sri Lanka named a native blue water lily, known locally as nil manel, as its national flower, but a mistake in the official declaration meant an introduced species, violet in color and ...

It makes sense that the two aquatic flowers — in a nice symmetry, the waterlily is Sri Lanka’s national flower, while the lotus is India’s — would seem like near cousins but, interestingly ...

The Na tree (Mesua Nagassarium) and the Nil Manel flower (Nypheae stellata) have recently (this article was written in 1986) been elevated to unique positions as Sri Lanka’s National Tree and National ...

Heading south east from the tea plantations of Sri Lanka’s highlands, vast tracts of jungle flow towards the beach through less-visited national ... gardenia and lotus flowers are held aloft ...

In the Mekong Delta, farmers and locals still gather the flowers on wooden boats ... by George Steinmetz A closer look at lotuses in Sri Lanka, amaranths in Peru, roses in Oman, marigolds in ...