Lotus

The term lotus may refer to:

• An aquatic plant of the genera Nyphaea or Nelumbo (see Nymphaeaceae)
• Lotus Cars, a British car manufacturer.
• Lotus Development, a Cambridge, MA, software company now owned by IBM.
• The Lotus genus in the subfamily Faboideae in the family Fabaceae
• The Lotus Position (meditation)

The lotus tree

The word "lotus" is also applied to a tree unrelated and not resembling the aquatic plant. The Lotus-eaters of the Odyssey are thought to have eaten a species of jujube or Zizyphus; this would be the lotus tree that the mythological Lotis had been transformed into. The genus Lotus belongs to the Fabaceae.