Lotus identifies various plant taxa:
- Nelumbo, a genus of aquatic plants with showy flowers, and the source of lotus seeds used in Chinese medicine and desserts.
- Nelumbo nucifera, an archetypal species in the genus
- Certain species of Nymphaea (water lilies or Egyptian lotuses):
- Nymphaea caerulea, also known as blue lotus
- Nymphaea lotus, white lotus or sacred lotus
- Nymphaea nouchali, also known as star lotus
- Lotus (genus) (including bird's-foot trefoils and deervetches), a terrestrial genus with small flowers
- Saussurea laniceps (snow lotus), an herbaceous species from the Himalayan vicinity
- Ziziphus lotus, a shrub species with edible fruit