High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Nymphaea caerulea, also as the Blue Egyptian water lily or sacred blue lily, is a water-lily in the genus Nymphaea. Its original habitat may have been along the Nile and other locations in East Africa. It spread to other locations, however, already in ancient times, like the Indian Subcontinent and Thailand. t has historically been known as the blue lotus and sacred lotus, particularly in discussing its revered status among the Ancient Egyptians, Nubians, Abyssinians, and any number of historic African civilizations of the ancient world. Since the Indian sacred lotus, Nelumbo nucifera is sometimes called "blue lotus" in a poetical way, both plants could be confused.