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Euryale ferox

Common name:	Foxnut	Family:	Euryalaceae
Author:	Salisb.	Botanical references:	58, 266
Synonyms:
Known Hazards:	None known
Range:	E. Asia - China to N. India.
Habitat:	Ponds and lakes in lowland, C. and S. Japan[58].
Edibility Rating (1-5):	3	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	2

Other Common Names:	From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below.
	Ch'Ien Shih [E], Chi T'Ou [E], Euryale [P],
Epithets:	From a Dictionary of Botanical Epithets
	ferox = fierce (spiny)
Other Range Info:	From the Ethnobotany Database
	China India

Physical Characteristics

Perennial growing to 1m by 3m . It is hardy to zone 8. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs). We rate it 3/5 for edibility and 2/5 for medicinal use.

The plant prefers light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils. The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It cannot grow in the shade. It can grow in water.

Habitats and Possible Locations

Pond.

Edible Uses

Fruit Seed Stem.

Fruit[2]. Soft and pulpy, it is about the size of a small orange[2]. It is highly esteemed in China as a cooling tonic food[183].
Seed - fresh or dried[183, 200]. The seed is about the size of a pea, each fruit containing from 8 to 15 seeds[2]. The seed is usually roasted and then eaten[218]. It is also used as a source of starch[183]. A nutritional analysis is available[218].
Very young stalks and rhizomes[2, 183]. Rich in starch[2].

Composition

Seed (Dry weight): In grammes per 100g weight of food:
Water: 0 Calories: 400 Protein: 10.3 Fat: 0.2 Carbohydrate: 89 Fibre: 0.2 Ash: 0.6
In milligrammes per 100g weight of food:
Calcium: 34 Phosphorus: 100 Iron: 1.5 Potassium: 66
Source: [218]

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

Analgesic Aphrodisiac Astringent Deobstruent Oxytoxic Tonic.

The leaf is used in cases of difficult parturition[218].
All parts of the plant are considered to be astringent, deobstruent and tonic[218].
The seed is a sweet and sour astringent herb that acts as a tonic for the kidney and the spleen[238]. The seed is analgesic and aphrodisiac[218]. It is taken internally in the treatment of chronic diarrhoea, vaginal discharge, kidney weakness associated with frequent urination, impotence, premature and involuntary ejaculation and nocturnal emissions[238, 279].

Other Uses

None known

Cultivation details

A water plant, it requires a rich soil, preferably growing in still water[238]. It can be grown in still or slowly flowing water[200]. In cultivation in temperate greenhouses, the plant is often grown as an annual[200]. It requires about 0.75 cubic metres of root run[200].
This species is not very cold hardy. One report says that it succeeds in zone 8[200] which would mean that it tolerates temperatures down to between -5 and -10° c but this must be viewed with some doubt. It is unlikely to succeed outdoors in Britain, at least when grown as a perennial[K].
Frequently cultivated as an edible plant in China and India, the seeds are normally available in Chinatown markets in the West[183].

Propagation

Seed - best sown as soon as it is ripe, the seed has a short viability and must not be allowed to become dry. Sow the seed in pots in a greenhouse at about 21° c and immerse the pots in water. As soon as they are large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and grow them on in the greenhouse for at least their first winter. Plant them out into their permanent positions in late spring or early summer, after the last expected frosts.

Suppliers

For more details of plant suppliers please see our Suppliers Page which lists many more places to look.

Web References

[H] Details of Scandanavian and European Common names in Henriette's names database
[E] Ethnobotany Data (common names, uses, countries) from the Ethnobotany Database.
[G] Data (Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.
[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.
[HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant Database

See the PFAF Links Pages for other sources.

Also try Photos and info from the The Plants Database which has 14,000 images.

References

[K] Ken Fern
Notes from observations, tasting etc at Plants For A Future and on field trips.

[2] Hedrick. U. P. Sturtevant's Edible Plants of the World. Dover Publications 1972 ISBN 0-486-20459-6
Lots of entries, quite a lot of information in most entries and references.

[58] Ohwi. G. Flora of Japan. (English translation) Smithsonian Institution 1965
The standard work. Brilliant, but not for the casual reader.

[183] Facciola. S. Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications 1990 ISBN 0-9628087-0-9
Excellent. Contains a very wide range of conventional and unconventional food plants (including tropical) and where they can be obtained (mainly N. American nurseries but also research institutes and a lot of other nurseries from around the world.

[200] Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992 ISBN 0-333-47494-5
Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.

[218] Duke. J. A. and Ayensu. E. S. Medicinal Plants of China Reference Publications, Inc. 1985 ISBN 0-917256-20-4
Details of over 1,200 medicinal plants of China and brief details of their uses. Often includes an analysis, or at least a list of constituents. Heavy going if you are not into the subject.

[238] Bown. D. Encyclopaedia of Herbs and their Uses. Dorling Kindersley, London. 1995 ISBN 0-7513-020-31
A very well presented and informative book on herbs from around the globe. Plenty in it for both the casual reader and the serious student. Just one main quibble is the silly way of having two separate entries for each plant.

[266] Flora of China 1994
On-line version of the Flora - an excellent resource giving basic info on habitat and some uses.

Readers Comments

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Plant information taken from the Plants For A Future - Species Database. Copyright (c) 1997-2003.
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