Lava Lotus

A Lava Lotus is an artificial flower that lives underwater in Super Mario Bros. 3. It resembles a large, translucent version of Panser from Super Mario Bros. 2. Lava Lotuses are capable of creating and storing lava balls under their transparent petals and attack by opening up to release them. The lava balls can go through platforms and make navigating underwater difficult. The number they shoot out is random and can be up to five at a time. The lava balls travel rather slowly and in a straight line from their point of release. They can only be defeated by Hammer Mario or a Invincible Mario.

A single Lava Lotus appears briefly in The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3 episode "Oh, Brother!". This Lava Lotus unleashes its lava balls on Frog Luigi, who manages to swim past them with ease.

In the Nintendo Adventure Book Dinosaur Dilemma, Mario avoids some Lava Lotuses while collecting coins in Lake Trilobite.

According to Nintendo Power, Lava Lotuses have a relation to Piranha Plants, despite there being no such indication in the original instruction booklet.

Notes and references
Lava-Pflanze Lotolava