Blue Lotus

Common Name: Blue Lotus, Egyptian Lotus, Blue Water Lily, Sacred Narcotic Lily of the Nile

Uses: Sedative, narcotic, ethnogen

Comments:Represented in ancient Egyptian art. The blue lotus was found scattered over Tutankhamen's body when the Pharaoh's tomb was opened in 1922.

 Many historians thought it was a purely symbolic flower, but there may be some reason to believe that ancient Egyptians used it to induce an ecstatic state, stimulation, and/or hallucinations.

More on the history on the blue lotus flower:  http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/lotus.htm 

The Lotus

Lotus. common name for any of a genus of plants of the legume family, and for certain members of several unrelated genera.   In Greek legend, the lotophagi (lotus-eaters), those who ate the fruit of the lotus tree, forgot their friends and homes and lost all desire to return to their native land.   Because the legends, as they have been passed down to the present, are inexact, it is not certain what plant may have been referred to.   Several species have been suggested: a jujube (Mediterranean Hackberry), a nettle tree, and a desert shrub—all of which are native to the Mediterranean region. An unrelated genus of the water lily family provides the sacred lotus of Buddhism. A second species of the genus is the American lotus.   The seeds and rhizomes of this aquatic genus are edible, and its leaves are held above the water on long stalks. Members of the representative water lily genus, with floating leaves, are also called lotus.   The Egyptian lotus and the Egyptian water lily were both represented in ancient Egyptian art. The lotus genus contains about 100 species. These are herbs or subshrubs native to temperate regions.   Several species are cultivated and some are used for forage.