Nelumbo nucifera

Image Credit:

By Romain Guy from Lyon, France

Lotus flower

Scientific name: Nelumbo nucifera

Common name(s): sacred lotus, Indian lotus

Name as shown in Phylogenes: sacred lotus

Ploidy: diploid

Description:

Nelumbo nucifera (sacred lotus) is a basal eudicot, a perennial aquatic plant. It was domesticated in Asia about 7,000 years ago, and cultivated for its rhizomes (roots) and seeds as a food crop. Sacred lotus, so named because of its religious significance in both Buddhism and Hinduism, bears majestic and usually pink or white flowers.

Because of its unique basal place in the eudicots lineage and its aquatic growth environment sacred lotus is valuable in studying genome evolution and plant adaptation.  

Reference(s):

1. Ming R, et al. Genome of the long-living sacred lotus (Nelumbo nucifera Gaertn.). 2013. Genome Biology. 14, R41. https://doi.org/10.1186/gb-2013-14-5-r41

Genome Database(s):