The lotus leaves are round or nearly round, or ovate, with some varieties being lanceolate or arrowhead-shaped; the leaves are entire, but the margins of tropical lotus leaves are wavy; the upper side is green and shiny, while the underside is purple-red, with some varieties displaying dark brown spots or mottling; the leaf veins are either distinct or not very distinct. Among tropical lotus varieties, a few have small plantlets grow between the tip of the large cleft and the base of the petiole, referred to as "vegetative propagation."

The lotus flower is composed of organs such as sepals, petals, stamens, pistil, style, and peduncle. The flower is solitary and bisexual. Its sepals are 4-5 in number, green or purplish red, or green with black spots, and come in shapes like lanceolate, narrow ovate, or oblong. The bud is elongated peach or peach-shaped; petals are usually ovate, broadly ovate, oblong, oblong, reniform, or broadly lanceolate, with tips slightly pointed or slightly obtuse. Colors include red, pink, blue, purple, and white. Petals can be single, multi-lobed, or double. Thus, the size, shape, and color of the petals vary by variety, forming a splendid flower display. The ovary is superior to perigynous, with stamens wrapping around the upper pistil before blooming, then spreading out in sickle shape upon maturity. Sepals, petals, and stamens are spirally arranged above the receptacle and ovary wall. The pistils form a ring-like arrangement embedded within the receptacle, fused together, with the upper style separating, the stigma in a thread-like, funnel-shaped structure with a milky protuberance at the center, which secretes stigma material upon maturity, primarily containing glucose, fructose, and amino acids, to attract insects for pollination.

Lotus fruits are ovate to hemispherical, mature in water, and split irregularly; seeds are small, elliptical or spherical; most have an aril.

Lotus is a perennial floating-leaf aquatic herb plant with thick rhizomes, either upright or creeping. The leaves are of two types: floating leaves float on the water surface, round, elliptical, or ovate, with rounded tips and deeply lobed bases into horseshoe or heart shapes, with wavy or entire margins or teeth; submersed leaves are thin and delicate. Flowers are solitary, with variations in size and color, blooming either floating or emergent; there are 4 sepals, many petals, and stamens. The fruit is a juicy berry, maturing in water and irregularly splitting open; the seeds are hard, dark green or dark brown, encapsulated in a gelatinous substance, with a pseudocarp. Different varieties have varying morphological characteristics.