American yellow lotus Nelumbo lutea seeds — bright yellow flower and batch of black seeds to be scarified before sowing

Lotus jaune Nelumbo lutea américain — yellow flower emerging from the broad floating leaves of a natural wetland

American yellow lotus Nelumbo lutea — close-up of a bright yellow flower above dark pond water

American yellow lotus Nelumbo lutea — mass flowering of yellow blooms in a planted landscaping pond.

American yellow lotus seeds, Nelumbo lutea

Name: American yellow lotus seeds, Nelumbo lutea
Price: 5.9 EUR
Availability: InStock

5,90 €

These seeds of Nelumbo lutea, the only lotus native to North America, produce pale yellow flowers measuring 18 to 28 cm and parasol-shaped leaves of 60 cm. This marsh species tolerates water depths of 15 to 60 cm, and its spreading rhizome can be contained within a planting trough.

Aquatic plant

Format : 4 seeds

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The summary

What you receive: seeds of Nelumbo lutea, botanical species, from 4 to 30 depending on the format chosen.
Getting started: file the shell, then soak the seeds in water at 20 to 25 °C, in a bright spot.
Water depth: from 15 to 60 cm above the grow medium — the widest range in the range.
Flower: pale yellow, 18 to 28 cm across, open in the morning and closed by late afternoon, for 3 days.
Good to know: the rhizome spreads and colonises muddy bottoms; a container keeps it in check.
Winter: hardy in USDA zones 4 to 11; the rhizome stays submerged throughout the dormant season.

American yellow lotus for sowing, marsh species, spreading rhizome

American yellow lotus seeds (Nelumbo lutea) are used to establish the only lotus native to North America, a botanical species with pale yellow flowers of 18 to 28 cm. It tolerates 15 to 60 cm of water, the widest range in the collection, which makes it well suited to shallows. Its creeping rhizome can be contained in a tub.

The Nelumbo lutea is the only lotus native to North America, found in the marshes and slow backwaters of the eastern and central United States. It is a botanical species rather than a cultivar, as shown by its pale yellow flower measuring 18 to 28 cm, without the extra rows of petals seen in horticultural varieties.

The flower

It is pale yellow, open in the morning, closed by late afternoon, for 3 days.

The leaf

It is round, umbrella-shaped, up to 60 cm in diameter, held upright above the water.

Water

The water depth ranges from 15 to 60 cm above the grow medium, the widest span in the range.

The season

This lotus flowers from summer through to early autumn, once plants are established.

🌊 A marsh plant

Its very wide range of water depths makes it the lotus for shallow water. Where other varieties want 30 cm or more, this one is happy on a pond shelf or a flooded bank area, without giving up any of its height. If your pond is irregular, with ledges and shallow zones, you will find a spot for it that would not suit the cultivars. That also makes it a good choice for a pond whose level changes through the season, where a lotus that is demanding about depth ends up alternately too deeply submerged or left exposed.

🧺 A rhizome to keep contained

This same vigour has a downside. The rhizome is creeping and spreads far into the sludge, to the point of colonising a soft bottom within a few seasons. Plant it in a tub or basket, even in the ground, and you will keep its spread under control. A perforated basket lined with hessian is ideal, since it lets the water through without letting the rhizome out. This is, incidentally, the approach that applies to the whole aquatic plants collection, and it spares you a lot of laborious digging out a few years later.

What makes this seedling fail

A seed that has not been filed enough stays closed indefinitely, because a lotus seed coat is waterproof by design. Soaking water below 20 °C triggers nothing either, and a seedling submerged under 30 cm of water straight away exhausts itself before reaching the light. The page on germination failure goes back over the scarification of a hard seed coat and the temperature needed for sprouting.

Creating a shallow shelf for the yellow lotus

If your pond has no shallow zone, a 1 mm EPDM liner lets you dig out a shelf or a gently sloping bank, which the yellow lotus will occupy under 15 to 30 cm of water. This elastomer stretches and follows the ledges of an excavated bottom without creasing in the corners. The lotus basket is then placed on this shelf, which contains the creeping rhizome while giving it water that warms up quickly in spring.

🐟 Foliage and fish

In an installation where fish live, the upright foliage plays a different role from that of a water lily, since it shades without closing off the surface. The leaves are held in the air rather than lying flat, so you keep the gas exchange between the water and the atmosphere. The roots take up nitrates and phosphates mainly from April to August, then their uptake drops in autumn, when the plant puts its reserves into the rhizome. The article on lotus in aquaponics details this seasonal rhythm and the share of the surface that a lotus should not exceed.

🌱 Species or cultivar

The choice between a botanical species and a horticultural cultivar is not only about the look of the flower. A species comes true from seed, which means that seeds collected from your own plants will produce comparable Nelumbo lutea, whereas a cultivar gives variable offspring. A species is also generally hardier and less demanding, at the cost of a simpler flower and a vigour that needs to be kept in check. If you want a spectacular flower, a double cultivar will suit you better, and if you want a plant that settles in for the long term in a pond, this one is the safest choice.

Technical specifications

The species

Botanical name: Nelumbo luteaBotanical species, not a horticultural cultivar
Origin: North AmericaMarshes, ponds and slow-moving backwaters of the eastern and central United States
Flower: Pale yellow, 18 to 28 cmOpen in the morning, closed again in the late afternoon, for 3 days
Leaf: Parasol of 60 cmHeld above the water on a rigid stem

At the pond

Water depth: 15 to 60 cmThe widest range in the range, from shallow water to the bottom of the pond
Adult height: 90 to 180 cmEmergent leaves included
Spread: 90 to 120 cmPer established plant, excluding rhizome spread
Temperament: Rhizome spreadingTo grow in a container or basket, even directly in the ground

The seedling

Scarification: MandatoryAt one end, down to the clear layer, without cutting into the kernel
Soaking water: 20 to 25 °CIn light, renewed every day
Flowering: Summer to autumnOn established plants that have been in place for several seasons
Hardiness: USDA zones 4 to 11The rhizome overwinters submerged, clear of ice

To budget for separately

Tank or basket: 60 cm and aboveIt serves both to feed the plant and to contain the rhizome
Heavy grow medium: Clay or garden soilRich, covered with rounded gravel

6 further specifications are available in the detailed view.

In the box

1 resealable sachet labelled with the botanical name
4 to 30 Nelumbo lutea yellow lotus seeds, depending on the size chosen

Water depth, spread, flowering period and hardiness: values published by specialist growers and horticultural databases, retrieved on 20/09/2026. The figures used are the most conservative for metropolitan France.

Four lotus plants to sow, four space requirements

All four are scarified and soaked in the same way. What changes is the space they take up once fully grown.

Shallow water doesn't suit the same lotus A pond shelf and a deep pond floor do not suit the same variety, and a container on a terrace even less so. Start from what you have.

	Dwarf bonsai lotus seeds, Nelumbo nuciferaYour choice	Sacred pink lotus seeds, Nelumbo nuciferaYour choice	Giant Sunburst lotus seeds, Nelumbo nuciferaYour choice	Recommended American yellow lotus seeds, Nelumbo luteaYour choice
The space it requires
Height above the water surface	20 à 40 cm	90 to 180 cm	120 to 180 cm	90 to 180 cm
Water depth above the grow medium	5 à 30 cm	15 à 45 cm	30 à 45 cm	15 à 60 cm
Recommended container width	60 cm	60 cm and over	50 cm and over	60 cm and over
What you sow
Origin	Asia, dwarf form	Asia, standard form	Cultivar Sunburst, bred in the United States	North America, species
Flower colour	Pink to white	Pink	Cream yellow	Pale yellow
At the pond
Trained as a bowl or basin shape	Yes	No	No	No
Spreading rhizome to keep contained	No	No	No	Yes

Dwarf bonsai lotus seeds, Nelumbo nucifera

The space it requires

Height above the water surface20 à 40 cm

Water depth above the grow medium5 à 30 cm

Recommended container width60 cm

What you sow

OriginAsia, dwarf form

Flower colourPink to white

At the pond

Trained as a bowl or basin shapeYes

Spreading rhizome to keep containedNo

Sacred pink lotus seeds, Nelumbo nucifera

The space it requires

Height above the water surface90 to 180 cm

Water depth above the grow medium15 à 45 cm

Recommended container width60 cm and over

What you sow

OriginAsia, standard form

Flower colourPink

At the pond

Trained as a bowl or basin shapeNo

Spreading rhizome to keep containedNo

Giant Sunburst lotus seeds, Nelumbo nucifera

The space it requires

Height above the water surface120 to 180 cm

Water depth above the grow medium30 à 45 cm

Recommended container width50 cm and over

What you sow

OriginCultivar Sunburst, bred in the United States

Flower colourCream yellow

At the pond

Trained as a bowl or basin shapeNo

Spreading rhizome to keep containedNo

American yellow lotus seeds, Nelumbo luteaRecommended

The space it requires

Height above the water surface90 to 180 cm

Water depth above the grow medium15 à 60 cm

Recommended container width60 cm and over

What you sow

OriginNorth America, species

Flower colourPale yellow

At the pond

Trained as a bowl or basin shapeNo

Spreading rhizome to keep containedYes

Heights, depths and colours: horticultural references and specialist growers, recorded on 20/09/2026; yellow lotus colouring from the Flora of North America, on 07/10/2026.

Estimate your
delivery time

A packet of seeds travels as a small parcel and is combined at no extra cost with the rest of your order. The exact amount is calculated in the basket. As a plant or living organism, this product is excluded from the right of withdrawal (article L221-28, 4° of the French Consumer Code), because it deteriorates quickly.

Frequently asked questions

6 questions

6 key questions

Can the spreading rhizome take over a pond?

Why choose a botanical species rather than a cultivar?

A botanical species comes true from seed: the seeds you harvest from your plants will give Nelumbo lutea true to type, and you can start again the following year with your own harvest.

A named cultivar, on the other hand, does not reproduce identically from seed, and each seedling produces a flower slightly different from the parent plant. If you want to harvest your own seeds, this is therefore the safest option in the range.

Which water depth should you choose within the 15 to 60 cm range?

What's the risk of not scarifying the shell?

Will it survive winters in northern France?

What happens to it in an aquaponics system?

Growing calendar

Guidelines for mainland France. This species tolerates lower water temperatures than cultivars, which brings forward its spring recovery by one to two weeks.

Stage
Scarification and soaking4 months	Scarification and soaking: no	Scarification and soaking: no	Scarification and soaking: no	Scarification and soaking in April	Scarification and soaking in May	Scarification and soaking in June	Scarification and soaking in July	Scarification and soaking: no	Scarification and soaking: no	Scarification and soaking: no	Scarification and soaking: no	Scarification and soaking: no
Potting into a tank3 months	Potting into a tank: no	Potting into a tank: no	Potting into a tank: no	Potting into a tank: no	Potting into a tank in May	Potting into a tank in June	Potting into a tank in July	Potting into a tank: no	Potting into a tank: no	Potting into a tank: no	Potting into a tank: no	Potting into a tank: no
Placing in the shallows3 months	Placing in the shallows: no	Placing in the shallows: no	Placing in the shallows: no	Placing in the shallows: no	Placing in the shallows: no	Placing in the shallows in June	Placing in the shallows in July	Placing in the shallows in August	Placing in the shallows: no	Placing in the shallows: no	Placing in the shallows: no	Placing in the shallows: no
Flowering4 months	Flowering: no	Flowering: no	Flowering: no	Flowering: no	Flowering: no	Flowering: no	Flowering in July	Flowering in August	Flowering in September	Flowering in October	Flowering: no	Flowering: no
Submerged dormancy5 months	Submerged dormancy in January	Submerged dormancy in February	Submerged dormancy in March	Submerged dormancy: no	Submerged dormancy: no	Submerged dormancy: no	Submerged dormancy: no	Submerged dormancy: no	Submerged dormancy: no	Submerged dormancy: no	Submerged dormancy in November	Submerged dormancy in December

KeyScarification and soakingPotting into a tankPlacing in the shallowsFloweringSubmerged dormancy

This month October

Growing guidance

Scarification: At one endDown to the pale layer, without cutting into the kernel
Soaking water: 20 to 25 °CIn the light, changed every day
Potting depth: Approx. 2 cmIn the clay, the seed has swollen and split
Water depth: 15 à 60 cmStart shallow, then lower the trough gradually
Container: 60 cm and overIt feeds the plant and contains the spreading rhizome
Adult height: 90 to 180 cmEmergent leaves included
Leaf: Up to 60 cmParasol-shaped, held above the surface
Flowering: Summer to autumnOn plants that have been established for several seasons
Aspect: Full sun6 to 8 hours of direct sunlight per day
Hardiness: Zones USDA 4 to 11Overwintering rhizome submerged, below the ice

What you need to know

Always plant in a container or basket, even in a pond with an earth base. The rhizome of this species spreads widely, and digging it out of muddy ground after three seasons is a job you only want to do once.
Place the trough in shallow water in the first year. A depth of 15 cm is sufficient; the water warms up faster there and the young plant reaches the surface without exhausting itself.
Leave a seed pod to ripen at the end of summer. This species self-seeds reliably, giving you a stock of seeds for future years without buying any more.
Keep a file to hand throughout the soaking period. Seeds that have not cracked after 3 days are not dead — they simply haven't been scored deeply enough.
Never drain the pond for winter. A lotus rhizome taken out into the open air dries out within a few hours and will not regrow in spring.
Keep an eye on the height of flower stems on an exposed pond. The large umbrella-like leaves catch the wind and the stems lean over, without causing the plant any lasting harm.

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American yellow lotus seeds, Nelumbo lutea

The summary