American lotus, Sassafras River, Maryland
Canon 5D, Sigma 12-24mm lens, raw capture @ ISO 400, 1/10th second at f/22

by Ian Plant

 

American lotus, rare in the Chesapeake Bay estuary, are colony plants, growing in large patches sometimes acres in size. Their large, showy white blossoms appear every July. This is one of only four colonies of lotus on the Chesapeake, located in a large tidal pond on the Sassafras River just a few miles from where it empties into the Bay.