Flower of the Alba Striata lotus with white petals edged and striped with carmine, yellow centre in the sun

Lotus Alba Striata

Name: Lotus Alba Striata
Brand: Latour-Marliac
SKU: LOTW06795
Price: 89.0 EUR
Availability: InStock

89,00 €

29,66 € × 3 with no fees Klarna.

This large hardy lotus bears a white flower edged with carmine and streaked with rose-red, on foliage that stands 1.50 to 2 m above the water. It is grown in a container, in full sun, under 30 cm of water.

The rhizome is shipped between 1 April and 15 June, at planting time. An order placed outside this period is recorded as a pre-order for the following season.

Ref. LOTW06795·Lotus

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The summary

The flower: white, edged with carmine, with pink-red streaks running along the petal.
The size: from 1.50 to 2 m above the water, with leaves of 50 to 60 cm.
The container: a tub of at least 40 litres, under 30 cm of water.
Its other names: the same variety is also sold under the names Empress and Kaiserinnenlotos.

Large hardy lotus with white flowers edged in carmine, for a sunny pond

The Lotus Alba Striata is a large hardy lotus (Nelumbo nucifera) with a white flower edged in carmine and streaked with pinkish red, also sold under the names Empress and Kaiserinnenlotos. It rises 1.50 to 2 m above the water and is grown in full sun, in a container of at least 40 litres, under 30 cm of water.

Alba Striata bears a large white flower, edged in carmine and streaked with pink-red lines that start at the base of the petal and stretch towards the tip. The bloom is single, 15 to 25 cm across, and the foliage stands 1.50 to 2 m above the water. It is an old variety of Nelumbo nucifera, now quite rare, which you will also find under the names Empress and Kaiserinnenlotos from European growers.

🎋 The stripe and the edge

A bordered petal has a distinct colour around its edge, like a fine trim. A streaked petal has lines of colour running across the white, closer together towards the base and finer towards the tip. This variety shows both at once: the edge is carmine and the streaks are rose-red, so it is described sometimes as a white lotus edged with red, sometimes as a white lotus streaked with pink. You can recognise it by these two features together, whatever name it is sold under.

Bury the tablets before filling the tub with water

A large lotus needs 2 to 3 times more fertiliser than a water lily, and a 40-litre basket submerged under 30 cm of water is awkward to work on once the season is under way. So push 6 to 9 tablets of Osmocote fertiliser for water lilies and lotus into the soil at planting time, while the basket is still dry, spreading them around the rhizome without touching it. These slow-release tablets feed the plant throughout the season, and the same application is repeated each spring, pushed in by hand under the water.

🪣 The tub and its soil

The rhizome can spend its first season in a round 20-litre pot, but a lotus of that size then needs at least 40 litres of soil, and a 150-litre tub leaves it several seasons without division. Choose a round, wide, deep container, with no corners where the rhizome would run into the sides. Fill it with heavy, clay-rich garden soil, sieved, to a depth of at least 15 cm, then place it so that there is 30 cm of water above the grow medium. A position in full sun, at least 6 hours a day, remains the condition for flowering.

Garden soil, never shop-bought potting compost

A garden-centre substrate is too light and too rich in organic matter for this job. It floats as soon as it is flooded, clouds the pond for weeks and leaves the rhizome with nothing to grip. Fill the tub with clayey loamy garden soil, sieved and free of stones, and finish with 1 to 2 cm of pozzolana.

This mass of soil also serves to hold a tall plant upright. The leaves open out into parasols of 50 to 60 cm and the flower stalks rise above them, which gives real wind resistance on a 2-metre plant. A wide, weighted container stays put, whereas a narrow pot topples at the first summer gust, and a hedge or wall that breaks the prevailing wind also protects your foliage from tearing.

🧤 The rhizome on arrival

The rhizome arrives bare, wrapped in damp paper, between 1 April and 15 June. Handle it with care, because it is fragile at the internodes: a split internode lets water in, and the rhizome rots. Lay it flat on the firmed soil, with the growing tips pointing towards the centre of the container, then cover it with 2 to 3 cm of soil, leaving the tips just showing, or hold it down with a flat stone, otherwise it will float and fail to grow. Then wait 3 to 4 days before filling the container with water, gradually, as with the other aquatic plants for ponds.

☀️ The start of growth

The rhizome stays dormant while the water is cold, and growth begins once it reaches about 20 °C. The first leaves float flat on the water, the upright leaves then emerge on long stalks, and the flower stems follow after them. The first year is mostly spent letting the rhizome settle into the soil in the container, whereas on an established plant this early variety flowers from June to August. A container placed at shallow depth in spring warms up faster than the bottom of the pond, which brings this start forward by a few days.

🐟 The weight of a full tank

A 40-litre tub filled with waterlogged soil weighs far more than 40 kilos, and this weight always comes as a surprise when it is time to lift the tub out. In a pond that houses fish, this detail becomes a question of clear water: a tub lifted by force slips, scrapes the bottom and stirs the sludge back into suspension for several days. Handle it with two people, with two straps passed under the base, and you will avoid the brown cloud described in the article on cloudy water.

✂️ Divide in March

In a container less than 80 cm in diameter, the plant is divided in March, before growth gets under way. Lift out the tub, free the rhizome by hand, then cut the chain of tubers 3 or 4 cm from a node, keeping 2 or 3 tubers at the end and taking care never to break the growing tip. Each section is then replanted like a new rhizome. This is also the only way to propagate this variety true to type, since its seeds do not reproduce the streaking of the parent plant.

Technical specifications

The flower

Colour: White with crimson edgesPink-red streaks running from the base to the tip of the petal
Corolla: Single, 15 to 25 cmHeart visible from the very first morning it opens

The plant

Height: 150 to 200 cmFoliage and flower stems above the surface
Leaf: Parasol of 50 to 60 cmMature leaves standing upright above the water

At the pond

Water depth: 30 cmCounted from the surface of the grow medium to the water surface
Flowering: June to AugustEarly variety, successive flower stems once established

To budget for separately

Grow bed: 40 litres minimumRound and full; 20 L is enough for the first season
Heavy grow medium: Clay garden soilSieved, free of stones and wood debris
Aquatic fertiliser: Osmocote tablets, 6 to 9 per plantBuried at planting, then again every spring
Pozzolana: 1 to 2 cm at the surfaceIt holds the soil in place when the tub is submerged

2 further specifications are available in the detailed view.

In the box

1 bare Alba Striata lotus rhizome, wrapped in damp paper

Technical sheet, description and growing advice from the producer Latour-Marliac, taken on 11/10/2026. Container volume from a specialist German nursery.

Manufacturer and product safety

Manufacturer: SARL Latour-Marliac (SIREN 499473601)
Postal address: 68 route de Péchavis, 47110 Le Temple-sur-Lot, France
Contact: contact@latour-marliac.com ; +33 5 53 01 08 05
Website: shop.latour-marliac.com

Information provided under Regulation (EU) 2023/988 on general product safety.

Estimate your
delivery time

The rhizome is sent bare-root, wrapped in damp paper in a bag, between 1 April and 15 June. The exact postage cost is calculated at the basket. Plant it as soon as it arrives. Plant or living organism: this product is excluded from the right of withdrawal (article L221-28, 4° of the French Consumer Code), as it deteriorates quickly.

Frequently asked questions

10 questions

6 key questions, 10 in the detailed view

What is the difference between a streaked flower and an edged flower?

Pattern	Where it sits	What you see from a distance
Edged	around the rim of the petal	a crisp border that outlines the corolla
Streaked	in lines across the white	a pinkish gradient from the base

This variety carries both patterns at once, which is why it is described sometimes as white edged with red, sometimes as white streaked with pink.

Are Alba Striata, Empress and Kaiserinnenlotos the same plant?

What tank volume should you allow for?

Can it be grown in a patio tub?

What should you do with the seed pods after flowering?

How do you move a submerged 40-litre tub?

Can you obtain this streaking from seed?

At what time of year does the rhizome arrive?

Can it be planted directly in the bottom of the pond?

What happens to the plant over winter?

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Lotus Alba Striata

The summary