These days the term lian is largely reserved for the water lily (whose more complete name in Chinese is shuilian, shui meaning "sleeping"), and in this way distinguishes the water lily from the lotus, which is ordinarily called he.
今天人們常將睡蓮與蓮花混淆；古人則稱睡蓮為「子午蓮」，因為這睡蓮「作息」不太統一。