Lotus
A lotus is a plant of the genus Nymphaea (the Egyptian lotus, family Nymphaeaceae) or Nelumbo (the Indian lotus). Both plants have round leaves that float on the surface of water; Nymphaea leaves have a radial notch, which Nelumbo leaves do not. Nelumbo fruit is often used in flower arrangements; it has about twenty pits in its face, each of which contains a seed. Members of Nymphaeaceae are called water lilies. Both plants have been used as religious symbols.
White Egyptian Lotus
Nelumbo Nucifera, Indian Lotus
The word "lotus" is also applied to unrelated and unresembling plants. The Lotus-eaters of the Odyssey are thought to have eaten a species of jujube or Zizyphus; the genus Lotus belongs to the Fabaceae.
Lotus is also a British manufacturer of sports cars. It also acts as an engineering consultancy performing development, particularly suspension development for other car manufacturers. The company was formed by Colin Chapman.
Lotus also used to run a successful Formula One racing team.
Lotus road cars include:
- Lotus Seven (and Super Seven)
- Lotus Esprit
- Lotus Elise
Lotus Development Corporation, a Cambridge, MA, software company now owned by IBM, played an imporant part in the growth of the personal computer industry by developing the popular spreadsheet Lotus 1-2-3. The company scored a second hit with the groupware Lotus Notes, now a common tool for intra-company communication and databases in large companies around the world. See also: Mitch Kapor, Ray Ozzie.