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Eleocharis dulcis
Also called Water Chestnut, Ground Chestnut, Waternut, Chinese Waterchestnut
Chinese water chestnut is a grass-like sedge grown in shallow water or wet mud for its edible corms. It needs to stay submerged in about 10 cm of water and warm soil to thrive.
Eleocharis dulcis, the Chinese water chestnut or water chestnut, is a grass-like sedge native to Asia, tropical Africa, and Oceania. It is grown in many countries for its edible corms, but if eaten uncooked, the surface of the plants may transmit fasciolopsiasis.
The water caltrop, which also is referred to by the same name, is unrelated and often confused with the water chestnut.
The crop can be cultivated in paddies, 2–7.5 m (7–25 ft) wide by up to 100 m (330 ft) long to allow for mechanization, or in a hydroponic culture. As it is an aquatic plant, it should always be submerged in approximately 10 cm (4 in) of water. The crop needs continuously high soil temperatures, ideally 14–15.5 °C (57–60 °F). At 13.6 °C (56.5 °F), the corms begin to sprout. Soil is ideally a sandy loam with pH 6.5 to 7.2. The plant produces two types of subterranean rhizomes. Under long-daylength conditions, rhizomes grow horizontally and then turn upwards forming daughter plants. Under short-daylength conditions, the rhizomes grow downward and produce a corm at the tip. The photoperiod also significantly influences how fast the corms grow. Corms begin to develop much more slowly if the photoperiod exceeds 12 hours. The corms are also the propagating material. Alternatively, transplants can be used. Machinery, such as tractor-mounted vegetable planters, can be used for plantation.
In the dry season of the Northern Territory in Australia, magpie geese eat the bulbs of water chestnuts, allowing them to put on fat for the wet season and ensuring they are ready for breeding. In the wet season, water chestnut leaves are used to build their floating nests.
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Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Eleocharis dulcis by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
