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American lotuses are blooming again on the Chain O' Lakes

Jan Bairstow stands on the dock behind his house in northwestern Lake County and gazes reverently at the enormous bloom of American lotus plants floating upon Nippersink Lake.

Thousands of green lily pads larger than dinner plates have gathered near the shoreline. They're in such a tight group that it looks like you could walk across them to shore.

And mixed among the pads are the lotus flowers - long, green stems, white petals and bright yellow stamens stretching out of the cool water toward the sun.

It's a breathtaking sight, one Bairstow enjoys every morning before he climbs into a pontoon boat and motors from his house on Crabapple Island to mainland Fox Lake for breakfast.

"Aren't they beautiful?" the 76-year-old Bairstow said. "And when you have them, you relish them."

And this is the time to enjoy them.

Lotus flowers start blooming in late July and are finished by the end of August. Each flower blooms for only three days before dying and sharing its seeds with its host lake.

"By the end of August, there are very few left," Bairstow said. "They're so ephemeral."

Used to be common

Lotus beds like the one at Bairstow's house used to be common on the Chain O' Lakes, the long waterway that essentially divides Lake and McHenry counties.

In the early 20th century, entrepreneurs ran boat tours in the Chain O' Lakes so city-dwellers could see the American lotus beds. Courtesy of Lake County Discovery Museum

In the early 20th century, entrepreneurs would run boat tours through the Chain so city-dwellers could look at the plants.

"People would come up here on trains from Chicago and collect them," said Mike Adam, a senior biologist with the Lake County Health Department.

In the late 1950s, however, the lotus population nearly disappeared from the Chain O' Lakes, thanks to damage from boaters, increased sediment in the lakes and other factors.

"There used to be over 1,000 acres ... and then it dropped to almost zero," Adam said.

Making a comeback

  American lotus plants, here Wednesday on Nippersink Lake, had once nearly disappeared from the Chain O' Lakes but are returning - in spectacular fashion. Gilbert R. Boucher II/gboucher@dailyherald.com

But restoration and protection efforts from the Fox Waterway Agency, which oversees the Chain, and other environmental groups have triggered a lotus resurgence here.

"We work to remove the estimated 100,000 cubic yards of yearly sediment that comes into our system," said Joe Keller, the Fox Waterway Agency's executive director.

That's about 8,500 dump truck loads of soil and debris that doesn't belong in the lakes.

Additionally, the agency has set up no-wake buoys around areas where lotus beds historically have formed. That prevents fast-moving boats from creating waves that can damage the plants.

And it's working.

According to the health department, almost 300 acres of lotus beds were found on Lake County's side of the Chain O' Lakes last summer.

"The plant has made a magnificent comeback," Keller said.

  The lotus flowers live only three days. Gilbert R. Boucher II/gboucher@dailyherald.com

The largest concentrations are on Grass Lake, with smaller beds on Nippersink and Fox lakes. The plants grow best in shallow water, which is why they're so plentiful near Bairstow's dock.

Lotus beds have even appeared in nearby lakes that aren't part of the Chain, such as East Loon Lake near Antioch and Sullivan Lake in Lakemoor, Adam said.

Birds probably are snatching seeds from the lotus beds on the chain and depositing them elsewhere, he said.

Several uses

Lotuses aren't just pretty. They have several roles in marine ecology.

For example, they provide places for fish to hide from predators and to spawn. Birds will visit the beds to forage on insects and small fish, too.

Humans also have found uses for them. Some people eat lotus tubers or seeds, and the flower's oils can be used in perfume.

  Jan Bairstow of Fox Lake looks over the bed of blooming American lotus plants near his house on Nippersink Lake. Each flower blooms for only three days. Gilbert R. Boucher II/gboucher@dailyherald.com

Bairstow never harvests the lotuses at the end of his dock. He just walks out on the weathered wooden boards, pauses and soaks in the vista.

Sometimes his 6-year-old Brittany spaniel, Hobie, joins him.

When the wind is blowing just right, it carries the lotuses' fragrance to them.

Bairstow is so taken by the lotus blooms that he's named the rear of his property Lotus Landing. A painted, aqua-blue sign featuring a lotus flower adorns the back of his house.

"That's how dear these plants are to me," he said. "I am so thankful they have come back."

So is Keller. By caring for the waterway and the life there, he said, we can pass on these natural treasures to future generations. "It shows what humanity can do as good stewards of our many precious resources if we put our minds to it," he said.

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