Witnessed by: Western · Unani
White water lily (Nymphaea alba), of the Nymphaeaceae family. Aquatic perennial from a thick creeping rhizome, with floating rounded leaves; native range: Europe, North Africa and the Middle East — still and slow fresh waters. Globally recognized as nilofar in Arabic, and European white water lily, nenuphar in English. The part used is flower and rhizome (root-stock). Large white cup-shaped flowers floating among leathery pads; the fleshy rhizome is astringent and starchy, faintly sweetish then puckering on the tongue.
In this cross-tradition database, we analyze how this substance operates across world medicine systems — tracking its traditional tastes, temperatures, tissue affinities, post-digestive effects, and planetary correspondences across Ayurveda, Unani, and Western herbalism.
WHITE WATER LILY
IDENTITY
Name
- Common
- White water lily
- Scientific name
- Nymphaea alba L.
- Family
- Nymphaeaceae
Form
- Part used
- flower and rhizome (root-stock)
PROPERTIES
Nature
Taste
how the plant declares itself on the tongue
- Western
- astringent · mucilaginous · bitter
- Unani
- sweet · astringent
Temperature
Western: cold (Culpeper — under the Moon)
Unani: cold (2nd degree)
convergence: both {witness_count} witnesses call it frankly cold — a refrigerant of heat and passion
Affinity
where in the body it travels
Organs / channels
- Western
- uterus · nerves · kidneys
- Unani
- heart · brain
PRACTICE
Virtue
Actions
- Western
- astringent, demulcent, anaphrodisiac, sedative; cooling to heat and fluxes
- Unani
- muqawwi-e-qalb (cardiac tonic), muqawwi-e-dimagh (brain tonic), musakkin (sedative), mubarrid (refrigerant)
Cautions
- Contraindications
- cold and damp conditions; loss of libido or impotence from cold; low blood pressure
- Toxicity
- essentially non-toxic in customary use
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