Blue Lotus and Other Relevant Botanicals
What is and is not known about blue lotus (Nymphaea caerulea) and a few other mild psychoactive botanicals, with plain labels where proper human evidence was not found.
Content last updated . This page has not been medically reviewed.
Quick answer
Blue lotus is an Egyptian water lily, Nymphaea caerulea, that is sold as a tea, extract or resin and promoted for relaxation and sleep. In the sources read for this page, the evidence for those claims in people was not found. Evidence labels used: marketing claim, preclinical (cells/animals only), insufficient evidence, promising but limited. "Proper evidence not found" means we searched and found no usable human study, which is not the same as proof of safety or of no effect.Blue lotus
What it is. The blue lotus flower contains the compounds apomorphine and nuciferine, according to a forensic laboratory report. The authors describe apomorphine as a drug mainly used to treat Parkinson's disease. Nuciferine is linked to dopamine receptor blocking. The authors note that blue lotus is used as a sleep aid and anxiety reliever, but they did not test those uses. [1]What testing found. In that report, five blue lotus samples were analyzed: nuciferine was found in all five, and apomorphine in only two. [1] The contents of products therefore appear to differ, though five samples are too few to say how much. The same report described a resin from a confiscated sample being vaporized in an electronic cigarette device, which shows that products are being used in ways that were never studied. [1]
Does it work? Proper evidence not found. We searched PubMed for human studies of Nymphaea caerulea and found a laboratory report on product contents and laboratory cell studies, but no randomized trial in people for sleep, anxiety or any other use. So sleep and anxiety claims are marketing claims here.
Safety. Because no human safety studies were found, side effects, safe amounts and drug interactions are unknown. Apomorphine was found in only some of the samples tested, so what a given product contains is uncertain. [1] People who are pregnant, take medicines, or have heart, liver or mental health conditions have no reliable data to rely on.
Legal status. Not verified. We did not read a regulator page on blue lotus. Rules vary by country and change.
Other botanicals sometimes grouped with blue lotus
These are noted briefly because they appear in the same search results and product listings. Neither is described by our sources as a classic psychedelic.- **Sceletium (kanna), Sceletium tortuosum. A South African succulent. Two small lab-style studies of a standardized extract in 20 young healthy volunteers found lower reported anxiety under experimental stress in one of the two, a promising but limited** early signal, not evidence for treating anxiety. [2]
- Calea zacatechichi ("dream herb"). Marketed in the US for medicinal purposes. A study on human kidney cells in a dish found cellular toxicity even at low doses, so this is preclinical only and raises a safety question. It does not show what happens in people. [3]
Other plants named in marketing for "lucid dreams" or "relaxation" were not assessed. Proper evidence not found in the searches described above.
How to think about claims
Content can differ between products (see the sample testing above). Be cautious of promises about sleep, anxiety or "spiritual" effects. See reading supplement labels and herb safety and interactions. Before using any herbal product, talk with a health professional, especially when taking medicines.Related reading
Kava, kratom and the Natural Psychedelics overview.Frequently asked questions
Is blue lotus a psychedelic?
It is not a classic psychedelic. A forensic report names apomorphine and nuciferine as its main compounds of interest, and describes the plant as used for sleep and anxiety, not visions. [1]
Does blue lotus tea help with sleep or anxiety?
Proper evidence not found in people. The uses are described by authors as common practice, but no trial was located. [1]
Do blue lotus products all contain the same thing?
Not necessarily. In five samples tested, nuciferine appeared in all and apomorphine in two. [1]
Is blue lotus legal?
Not verified; we did not read a regulator source. Laws differ by country and change.
References
- The blue lotus flower (Nymphea caerulea) resin used in a new type of electronic cigarette, the re-buildable dripping atomizer. J Psychoactive Drugs 2017. Read 2026-10-22.
- Sceletium tortuosum (Zembrin) ameliorates experimentally induced anxiety in healthy volunteers. Hum Psychopharmacol 2020. Read 2026-10-22.
- Evaluation of "Dream Herb," Calea zacatechichi, for nephrotoxicity using human kidney proximal tubule cells. J Toxicol 2016. Read 2026-10-22.