Most of the beautiful lotus flowers that I photographed last week at Kenilworth Park and Aquatic Gardens in Washington D.C. were Sacred Lotuses (Nelumbo nucifera), a plant that is native to Asia. In one small area of the gardens, I spotted some American Lotuses (Nelumbo lutea), a species that is native to North America. Unlike Sacred Lotuses, which tend to be pinkish in color, the flowers of American Lotuses are white or pale yellow in color and the American Lotus is sometimes called a Yellow Lotus.
It was mid-morning when I took these shots and the sun was shining brightly, so I had to deliberately underexpose the shots to keep the white highlights from getting blown out—that is why the backgrounds look so dark. I like the effect and find that it adds a bit of drama to the images, especially the first one.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
Beautiful
Thanks, Louella.
A couple of local lakes have had a bumper crop of American Lotus this year. Vast swathes of sunshine yellow!
Nice job on the photographs!
Thanks, Wally. We had only a small area of American Lotuses at this garden, but lots and lots of the Sacred Lotuses. It must have been really cool to “vast swathes” of yellow lotuses. Wow!