Water Chestnut, Water Caltrop

The crunchy water chestnut of Chinese restaurant food is the unrelated Eleocharis dulcis.

Trapa natans is an invasive plan...Read Moret native to Eurasia and capable of destroying wetland habitat over a wide range of climates. It forms dense mats that kill fish and prevent boating, swimming, and fishing. The spikes on the fruit can cause serious injury when stepped on.

There are serious infestations in Maryland, Pennsylvania, New York, and Massachusetts.

It has been declared a noxious weed or banned in 11 states.

This plant can accumulate toxic heavy metals in its seeds. Cooking does not affect this. It also contains organic toxins which can be destroyed by long boiling.

I grow this in shallow plastic containers, like dish pans, about 6-8 inches deep with no drainage holes. I have them growing in the green...Read Morehouse and outside. I don't plant them in the pond as they will get out of control and take over.The nut like fruit forms under the root mass at the bottom of the pans in the fall. Harvest is easy by just overturning the pans and collecting the nuts on the bottom.I then put a few nuts back in the pans and a scoop of composted manure, and wait till next fall. also called Water Caltrop, --this is a diferent plant than the smooth Water Chestnut used in comon Chinese food recipies. it has a horned apearance, not round and smooth like the comon type. * Must be cooked before eating, the seed/fruit contain a toxin that is destroyed by cooking.