The free screensaver, Sacred Lotus, was created by RateMyScreensaver.com and contains 31 high resolution images of lotus flower. Nelumbo nucifera is known by a number of common names, including blue lotus, Indian lotus, sacred lotus, bean of India, and sacred water-lily. Botanically, Nelumbo nucifera (Gaertn.) may also be referred to by its former names, Nelumbium speciosum (Wild.) or Nymphaea nelumbo. This plant is an aquatic perennial, but if its seeds are preserved under favorable circumstances, they may remain viable for many years. In ancient Egypt the sacred lotus (Nelumbo nucifera) was unknown, being introduced only at the time of the Persian invasions, late in ancient Egyptian history. The ancient Egyptians venerated the blue water-lily, Nymphaea caerulea, which was sometimes known as the blue lotus or sacred lotus. N. nucifera was native to a huge area from modern Vietnam to Afghanistan, being spread widely as an ornamental and food plant. In 1787 it was first brought into horticulture in Western Europe as a stove-house water-lily under the patronage of Sir Joseph Banks and can be seen in modern botanical garden collections where heating is provided. Today it is rare or extinct in the wild in Africa but widely naturalized in southern Asia and Australia, where it is commonly cultivated in water gardens. It is the National Flower of India. - wiki Screensaver Picture Count: 31 Screensaver Type: Slideshow Credit: All images in this screensaver fall under one of the following licenses: Creative Commons, Attribution ShareAlike 2.0, Attribution ShareAlike 2.5, public domain, GNU Free Documentation License