Lotus is a perennial aquatic herb; its rhizome is horizontal, thick, with enlarged internodes, containing numerous longitudinal通气holes, constricted at the nodes, bearing black scale leaves above and hair-like adventitious roots below.

Leaves are round or shield-shaped, with a diameter of 25-90 cm, dark green on the surface covered with waxy white powder, grayish green on the back, entire and slightly wavy, smooth above with white powder, and the veins radiate from the center with 1-2 forked branches below. Petioles are robust, cylindrical, 1-2 meters long, hollow, and sparsely covered with small thorns. Flower stalks are as long or slightly longer than the petioles, also sparsely covered with small thorns; petioles are cylindrical and densely covered with recurved thorns.

Flowers bloom singly at the top of the stem, above the water surface, with a diameter of 10-20 cm, beautiful and fragrant; they come in single, double, semi-double, and multiple-petaled varieties; colors range from white, pink, deep red, pale purple, yellow, to various mixed hues; the lotus leaf is obovate-elliptical to inversely ovate, 5-10 cm long, 3-5 cm wide, gradually decreasing in size from the outside in, sometimes transforming into stamens, with a rounded or slightly pointed tip, and numerous stamens; the pistil is separate, embedded within a conical, spongy receptacle, with a surface dotted with numerous honeycomb-like holes; after fertilization, it swells into the lotus pod, each hole containing a small nut (lotus seed); anther is linear, filaments are slender and long, attached below the receptacle; the style is extremely short, with the stigma at the top; the receptacle (lotus chamber) is 5-10 cm in diameter.