water chestnut

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water chestnut

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Related Topics:: corm; Singhara nut; Chinese water chestnut; Trapa natans; ling nut

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water chestnut, any of several species of water plants that are cultivated for their edible parts. Water chestnuts of the genus Trapa (family Trapaceae) are native to Europe, Asia, and Africa and are also known as water caltrops. The name water chestnut is commonly applied to their edible nutlike fruits. The most common species, the European water chestnut (Trapa natans), has submerged leaves, which are long, feathery, and rootlike, and floating leaves, in a loose rosette, that are attached to petioles, or leafstalks, 5 to 10 cm (2 to 4 inches) long. The fruit, sometimes called Singhara nut, is 2.5 ...(100 of 178 words)

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