Water lily

睡蓮 suiren

Water lilies on cool water make a refreshing summer motif. They are often confused with the lotus (hasu), the Buddhist symbol of purity rising from mud.

Native hitsujigusa; Western hybrids modern

Japan's only native water lily is the small hitsujigusa, whose Chinese name 睡蓮 later came to cover the whole genus; it is first recorded in the Yamato honzō of 1709. Showy Western hybrid water lilies, and Monet's famous paintings of them, made the flower a modern decorative motif. Classical Japanese pattern uses the lotus (hasu), the Buddhist emblem, far more often.