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Lythraceae FAMILY

Trapa natans quadrispinosa

Trapa natans quadrispinosa

Edibility
0/5
Medicinal
0/5

Safety & Hazards

None known

Cultivation Details

Habit—
Growth—

Trapa natans quadrispinosa is found mainly in the temperate zone s of the Himalayas, southeast China, Japan and the Russian Far East, also growing in Thailand. It grows best in areas where annual daytime temperatures are within the range 15 - 25°c, but can tolerate 10 - 35°c[1]. When dormant, the plant (in the form of a seed) can survive temperatures down to about -25°c, but young growth can be severely damaged at 0°c[1]. A water plant, usually growing in water up to 60cm deep, but recorded to tolerate depths from 30 - 360cm[2]. It requires a sunny position in slightly acidic water[3]. Dislikes calcium rich water[4]. Prefers a rich soil[4, 5, 3]. Prefers a pH in the range 5.5 - 7.5, tolerating 5 - 8.2[1]. In India, the fruit is broadcast in 30 - 69 cm deep nursery ponds and pressed into the mud, transplanted at the 4 - 5 leaf stage and replanted when 4 - 5 months old. Lateral pruning is carried out to accelerate flowering and fruiting[6]. In China, the water chestnut is cultivated in running water[6]. The plant is known to fix nitrogen from the water[2].

Propagation

Seed - harvest in late summer and store overwinter in a jar of water in a cold but frost-free place. The seed can remain viable for up to 10 years at the bottom of a pond, but 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. Cite as: Temperate Plants Database, Ken Fern. temperate.theferns.info. 2026-02-21. <temperate.theferns.info/plant/Trapa+natans+quadrispinosa>

Pollinators

Data unavailable

References

  1. [1]Ecocrop — http://ecocrop.fao.org/ecocrop/srv/en/home ↩︎Basic information on a wide range of useful plants, plus details of environmental needs where available.
  2. [2]Invasive Species Compendium — http://www.cabi.org ↩︎An immense resource - in depth information on over 900 species of invasive plants (it also has information on animals, fungi etc).
  3. [3]The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. — Huxley. A. · 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.
  4. [4]Flora Europaea — ? · Cambridge University Press · 1964 · ISBN - ↩︎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.
  5. [5]Complete Guide to Water Plants. — Muhlberg. H. · 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.
  6. [6]Edible Nuts. — Wickens G.E. · FAO, Rome. · 1995 · http://www.fao.org/docrep/ · ISBN 92-5-103748-5 ↩︎Detailed information on 20 of the most valuable nut crops, plus more basic information on a wide range of other nut-producing plants. It can be downloaded from the Internet.
  7. [7]Flora of China — Missouri Botanical Garden Press; St. Louis. · 1994 · http://flora.huh.harvard.edu/china/ ↩︎An excellent, comprehensive resource in 25 volumes. In addition to the botanical information the flora also gives basic information on habitat and some uses. An on-line version is also available.
  8. [8]Trapa natans (Water Chestnut): An Overview — Shalabh B., Akash J. & Jasmine C. · 2012 · http://www.irjponline.com · ISBN 2230-8407 ↩︎
  9. [9]Flora of the USSR. — Komarov. V. L. · Israel Program for Scientific Translation · 1968 · http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org · ISBN - ↩︎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. It can be downloaded from the Internet.
  10. [10]Sturtevant's Edible Plants of the World. — Hedrick. U. P. · Dover Publications · 1972 · ISBN 0-486-20459-6 ↩︎Lots of entries, quite a lot of information in most entries and references.
  11. [11]Growing Unusual Fruit. — Simmons. A. E. · David & Charles; Newton Abbot. · 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.
  12. [12]Hamlyn Encyclopaedia of Plants. — Triska. Dr. · Hamlyn · 1975 · ISBN 0-600-33545-3 ↩︎Very interesting reading, giving some details of plant uses and quite a lot of folk-lore.
  13. [13]The Oxford Book of Food Plants. — Harrison. S. Wallis. M. Masefield. G. · Oxford University Press · 1975 · ISBN - ↩︎Good drawings of some of the more common food plants from around the world. Not much information though.
  14. [14]Nuts. — Howes. F. N. · Faber · 1948 · ISBN - ↩︎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.
  15. [15]Flowers of Europe - A Field Guide. — Polunin. O. · 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.
  16. [16]The Vegetable Garden. — Vilmorin. A. · 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.
  17. [17]Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. — Facciola. S. · 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.
  18. [18]Dictionary of Economic Plants. — Uphof. J. C. Th. · Weinheim · 1959 · ISBN - ↩︎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.
  19. [19]The Book of Edible Nuts. — Rosengarten. jnr. F. · Walker & Co. · 1984 · ISBN 0802707699 ↩︎A very readable and comprehensive guide. Well illustrated.
  20. [20]Medicinal Plants of China — Duke. J. A. and Ayensu. E. S. · 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.
  21. [21]Glossary of Indian Medicinal Plants (Including the Supplement). — Chopra. R. N., Nayar. S. L. and Chopra. I. C. · Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, New Delhi. · 1986 · ISBN - ↩︎Very terse details of medicinal uses of plants with a wide range of references and details of research into the plants chemistry. Not for the casual reader.