American Lotus

I went walking at Sterling State Park near Lake Erie. There are huge lagoons there that are surrounded by miles of walking trails, and the water is covered by vast beds of American Lotus (Nelumbo lutea Willd) flowers. This is considered to be a threatened and legally protected species in Michigan, and this is one of the few places to find them. I was hoping to photograph an open bloom, but the plants were far from shore, and I could not find one close enough to get a decent image. I ended up with a photo showing a flower bud along with one of the seed pods. I also included a wide shot of the plants covering the water, plus an older image of an open flower from two years ago in the extras.