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Trapa natans

Common name:	Water Chestnut	Family:	Trapaceae
Author:	L.	Botanical references:	50, 200
Synonyms:
Known Hazards:	The raw seed contains toxins but that these are destroyed in the cooking process[200, 206].
Range:	Europe to W. Asia and N. Africa.
Habitat:	Water up to 60cm deep.
Edibility Rating (1-5):	4	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	0

Other Common Names:	From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below.
	Castana De Agua [E], Fou Ling [E], Gaou Fun [E], Hisi [E], Lao Ling [E], Ling [E], Ling Chio [E], Shiu Li Chi Shih [E], Sukestanesi [E], Water Chestnut [H,P,L], Water Nuts [H], Water-chestnut [B],
Epithets:	From a Dictionary of Botanical Epithets
	natans = floating rapa = turnip (like)
Systematics:	From a USDA Plants Database
	Order: Myrtales. Water Chestnut family
Other Range Info:	From the Ethnobotany Database
	China Japan Spain Turkey
Noxious, Invasive and Injurious Weeds	From USDA PLANTS database, Weeds Australia , DEFRA Injurious Weeds
	Listed as noxious/invasive for: Arizona, Florida, Massachusetts, North Carolina, South Carolina, Western Australia, Queensland.

Physical Characteristics

Perennial. It is hardy to zone 5. It is in flower from June to July. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs). We rate it 4/5 for edibility and 0/5 for medicinal use.

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

Habitats and Possible Locations

Pond.

Edible Uses

Seed.

Seed - raw, cooked or dried and ground into a powder[2, 3, 13, 34, 56, 63, 74, 100]. A sweet floury and agreeable flavour[27], similar to sweet chestnuts (Castanea spp)[183]. The seed contains up to 50% starch according to one report[46], 16% starch, 3% protein in another report[117] and 15% protein, 7.5% fat in a third[74]. (Are all these reports talking about the same thing?). One report says that the raw nut contains toxins that are destroyed by cooking the seed[200].

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

None known

Other Uses

None known

Cultivation details

A water plant, growing in water up to 60cm deep. Requires a sunny position in slightly acidic water[200]. Dislikes calcium rich water[50]. Prefers a rich soil[50, 56, 200].
Plants are hardy in all but the coldest parts of Britain[1]. A perennial, but it is best grown as an annual in Britain[3].
Some botanists regard this species as the only genuine member of the genus, all other species considered to be no more than a part of this one highly polymorphic species[200].
Occasionally cultivated for its edible seed, there is at least one named variety[1, 3, 13]. 'Su Zhou' is a form with red-coloured fruit[183].

Propagation

Seed - harvest in late summer and store overwinter in a jar of water in a cold but frost-free place. The seed quickly loses its vitality if it is allowed to become dry. Sow in spring, placing one seed in each pot and submerging them under a few centimetres of water.

Cultivars

'Su Zhou': A form with red-coloured fruit[183].

Suppliers

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

PFAF Web Pages

This plant is mentioned in the following web pages

The Edible Pond and Bog Garden

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.
[B] Data (Latin & Common names, other references) from the BONAP's Synonymized Checklist of the Vascular Flora of the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
[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

References for the family Trapaceae.

To be included in the Flora of China.

See the PFAF Links Pages for other sources.

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

References

[1] F. Chittendon. RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 Oxford University Press 1951
Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaces in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [200]).

[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.

[3] Simmons. A. E. Growing Unusual Fruit. David and Charles 1972 ISBN 0-7153-5531-7
A very readable book with information on about 100 species that can be grown in Britain (some in greenhouses) and details on how to grow and use them.

[13] Triska. Dr. Hamlyn Encyclopaedia of Plants. Hamlyn 1975 ISBN 0-600-33545-3
Very interesting reading, giving some details of plant uses and quite a lot of folk-lore.

[27] Vilmorin. A. The Vegetable Garden. Ten Speed Press ISBN 0-89815-041-8
A reprint of a nineteenth century classic, giving details of vegetable varieties. Not really that informative though.

[34] Harrison. S. Wallis. M. Masefield. G. The Oxford Book of Food Plants. Oxford University Press 1975
Good drawings of some of the more common food plants from around the world. Not much information though.

[46] Uphof. J. C. Th. Dictionary of Economic Plants. Weinheim 1959
An excellent and very comprehensive guide but it only gives very short descriptions of the uses without any details of how to utilize the plants. Not for the casual reader.

[50] ? Flora Europaea Cambridge University Press 1964
An immense work in 6 volumes (including the index). The standard reference flora for europe, it is very terse though and with very little extra information. Not for the casual reader.

[56] Muhlberg. H. Complete Guide to Water Plants. E. P. Publishing Ltd. 1982 ISBN 0-7158-0789-7
Deals with a wide range of plants for temperate areas (and indoor aquaria) with quite a lot of information on cultivation techniques.

[63] Howes. F. N. Nuts. Faber 1948
Rather old but still a masterpiece. Has sections on tropical and temperate plants with edible nuts plus a section on nut plants in Britain. Very readable.

[74] Komarov. V. L. Flora of the USSR. Israel Program for Scientific Translation 1968
An immense (25 or more large volumes) and not yet completed translation of the Russian flora. Full of information on plant uses and habitats but heavy going for casual readers.

[100] Polunin. O. Flowers of Europe - A Field Guide. Oxford University Press 1969 ISBN 0192176218
An excellent and well illustrated pocket guide for those with very large pockets. Also gives some details on plant uses.

[117] Rosengarten. jnr. F. The Book of Edible Nuts. Walker & Co. 1984 ISBN 0802707699
A very readable and comprehensive guide. Well illustrated.

[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.

[206] Larkcom J. Oriental Vegetables John Murray 1991 ISBN 0-7195-4781-4
Well written and very informative.

Readers Comments

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Plant information taken from the Plants For A Future - Species Database. Copyright (c) 1997-2003.
WEB search engine by Rich Morris - Home Page- Contact Info
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