'Make Nymphaea Noushali National Flower'

Samanthi WEERASEKARA

The light blue lotus flower known as Nymphaea Noushali should be the country's proper national flower rather than the blue lotus presently displayed, said Prof Deepthi Yakandawala of Department of Botany Peradeniya University.

She said the lotus flower displayed since the proclamation of the National Flower in 1986 is a hybrid lotus rather than the proper 'Nymphaea Noushali' which is of a light blue hue. She said the 'Nymphaea Noushali' is an endemic flower while the one which had been shown as the National Flower is not, she said.