Eleocharis dulcis

Eleocharis dulcis, the Chinese water chestnut or water chestnut, is a grass-like sedge native to Asia (China, Japan, India, Philippines, etc.), Australia, tropical Africa, and various islands of the Pacific and Indian Oceans.

Some well-known sedges include the water chestnut (Eleocharis dulcis) and the papyrus sedge (Cyperus papyrus), from which the writing material papyrus was made.

They also may be ground into a flour form used for making water chestnut cake, which is common as part of dim sum cuisine.

Water chestnut cake is a sweet Cantonese dim sum dish made of shredded Chinese water chestnut.

It has stem-like, tubular green leaves that grow to about 1.5 m. The water caltrop, which also is referred to by the same name, is unrelated and often confused with the water chestnut.

This plant should not be confused with the unrelated Eleocharis dulcis, also called a water chestnut.

It is grown in many countries for its edible corms.

The water chestnut is not a nut at all, but an aquatic vegetable that grows in marshes, under water, in the mud.

Examples include wild rice (Zizania), water caltrop (Trapa natans), Chinese water chestnut (Eleocharis dulcis), Indian lotus (Nelumbo nucifera), water spinach (Ipomoea aquatica), and watercress (Rorippa nasturtium-aquaticum).

Eleocharis dulcis, the Chinese water chestnut or water chestnut, is a grass-like sedge native to Asia (China, Japan, India, Philippines, etc.), Australia, tropical Africa, and various islands of the Pacific and Indian Oceans.

Eleocharis dulcis, the Chinese water chestnut or water chestnut, is a grass-like sedge native to Asia (China, Japan, India, Philippines, etc.), Australia, tropical Africa, and various islands of the Pacific and Indian Oceans.

Eleocharis dulcis, the Chinese water chestnut or water chestnut, is a grass-like sedge native to Asia (China, Japan, India, Philippines, etc.), Australia, tropical Africa, and various islands of the Pacific and Indian Oceans.

Eleocharis dulcis, the Chinese water chestnut or water chestnut, is a grass-like sedge native to Asia (China, Japan, India, Philippines, etc.), Australia, tropical Africa, and various islands of the Pacific and Indian Oceans.

Eleocharis dulcis, the Chinese water chestnut or water chestnut, is a grass-like sedge native to Asia (China, Japan, India, Philippines, etc.), Australia, tropical Africa, and various islands of the Pacific and Indian Oceans.

Eleocharis dulcis, the Chinese water chestnut or water chestnut, is a grass-like sedge native to Asia (China, Japan, India, Philippines, etc.), Australia, tropical Africa, and various islands of the Pacific and Indian Oceans. 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.

Eleocharis dulcis, the Chinese water chestnut or water chestnut, is a grass-like sedge native to Asia (China, Japan, India, Philippines, etc.), Australia, tropical Africa, and various islands of the Pacific and Indian Oceans.

Eleocharis dulcis, the Chinese water chestnut or water chestnut, is a grass-like sedge native to Asia (China, Japan, India, Philippines, etc.), Australia, tropical Africa, and various islands of the Pacific and Indian Oceans.

Eleocharis dulcis, the Chinese water chestnut or water chestnut, is a grass-like sedge native to Asia (China, Japan, India, Philippines, etc.), Australia, tropical Africa, and various islands of the Pacific and Indian Oceans.

The water chestnut is not a nut at all, but an aquatic vegetable that grows in marshes, under water, in the mud.

The water chestnut is not a nut at all, but an aquatic vegetable that grows in marshes, under water, in the mud.

The small, rounded corms have a crisp, white flesh and may be eaten raw, slightly boiled, or grilled, and often are pickled or tinned.

They also may be ground into a flour form used for making water chestnut cake, which is common as part of dim sum cuisine.

They also may be ground into a flour form used for making water chestnut cake, which is common as part of dim sum cuisine.

They are unusual among vegetables for remaining crisp even after being cooked or canned, because their cell walls are cross-linked and strengthened by certain phenolic compounds, such as oligomers of ferulic acid.

This property is shared by other vegetables that remain crisp in this manner, including the tiger nut, lotus root and spurge nettle root.

This property is shared by other vegetables that remain crisp in this manner, including the tiger nut, lotus root and spurge nettle root.

This property is shared by other vegetables that remain crisp in this manner, including the tiger nut, lotus root and spurge nettle root.

If eaten uncooked, the surface of the plants may transmit fasciolopsiasis.

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.