Nelumbo

Nelumbo Temporal range: Cretaceous–Recent PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Nelumbo nucifera (sacred lotus)
Nelumbo lutea (American lotus)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Order:	Proteales
Family:	Nelumbonaceae
Genus:	Nelumbo Adans.
Species
†Nelumbo aureavallis †Nelumbo changchangensis Nelumbo lutea †Nelumbo minima †Nelumbo nipponica Nelumbo nucifera †Nelumbo orientalis †Nelumbo protolutea

Nelumbo /nɪˈlʌmboʊ/^[1] is a genus of aquatic plants with large, showy flowers. Members are commonly called lotus, though the name is also applied to various other plants and plant groups, including the unrelated genus Lotus. Members outwardly resemble those in the family Nymphaeaceae ("water lilies"), but Nelumbo is actually very distant from that family.

There are only two known living species of lotus: Nelumbo nucifera, which is native to East Asia, South Asia, Southeast Asia, and probably Australia and is better known. It is commonly cultivated; it is eaten and used in traditional Chinese medicine. The other lotus is Nelumbo lutea, which is native to North America and the Caribbean. Horticultural hybrids have been produced between these two allopatric species.