Nelumbo lutea in the context of Family (Biology)

Nelumbo /nɪˈlʌmboʊ/ 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.

Nelumbo is an ancient genus, with dozens of species known from fossil remains since the Early Cretaceous. However, there are only two known living species of lotus. One is the better-known Nelumbo nucifera, which is native to East Asia, South Asia, Southeast Asia, and probably Australia and is commonly cultivated for consumption and use 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.

Nelumbonaceae is a family of aquatic flowering plants. Nelumbo is the sole extant genus, containing Nelumbo lutea, native to North America, and Nelumbo nucifera, widespread in Asia. At least five other genera, Nelumbites, Exnelumbites, Paleonelumbo, Nelumbago, and Notocyamus are known from fossils.

Nelumbonaceae were once included in the waterlily family, Nymphaeaceae. Genetic analysis determined that the similarities between the families are an example of convergent evolution. Nelumbonaceae are highly modified eudicots belonging to the order Proteales, their closest living relatives being the plane trees (Platanaceae) and Proteaceae. Notocyamus from the Early Cretaceous of Brazil is the oldest known representative of the family, and displays several transitional traits between Nelumbonaceae and both the Proteaceae and Platanaceae.

Lotus identifies various plant taxa:

• Nelumbo, a genus of aquatic plants with showy flowers known as lotuses, having two extant species:
  • Nelumbo nucifera, the Sacred or Indian lotus
  • Nelumbo lutea, the American or yellow lotus
• Certain species of Nymphaea, a genus of aquatic plants known as water lilies, are also known as Egyptian lotus or Egyptian water lily:
  • Nymphaea caerulea, also known as blue lotus
  • Nymphaea lotus, white lotus or sacred lotus
  • Nymphaea nouchali, also known as blue or star lotus (sometimes thought to be the same species as Nymphaea caerulea above)
• Lotus, a terrestrial genus of legumes with small flowers, including bird's-foot trefoils and deervetches
• Certain species of Saussurea, a genus of herbaceous plant, are known as snow lotus, particularly those from the Himalayan vicinity
• Ziziphus lotus, a shrub species with edible fruit
• Diospyros lotus, a tree with edible fruit known as the date-plum or Caucasian persimmon