Chinese Water Chestnut
Eleocharis dulcis
Family: Cyperaceae
What it is like
Eleocharis dulcis is a PERENNIAL growing to 1 m (3ft 3in). See above for USDA hardiness. It is hardy to UK zone 9 and is frost tender. The species is hermaphrodite (has both male and female organs). Suitable for: light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils. Suitable pH: mildly acid, neutral and basic (mildly alkaline) soils. It cannot grow in the shade. It prefers wet soil and can grow in water.
Height (m): 1
Where it is found
Marshy land and shallow water. The edges of seasonal swamps in Australia.
Tropical Africa; E. Asia - China, Japan, India, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, New Guinea, Australia, western Pacific..
Conservation Status: This taxon has not yet been assessed.
Countries/locations it is found in
Africa, Asia, Australia, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burma, Cambodia, China, East Africa, East Timor, Fiji, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinée, Guinea-Bissau, Hawaii, India, Indochina, Indonesia, Japan, Japan-Ryukyu Islands, Laos, Liberia, Madagascar, Malaysia, Mali, Micronesia, Mozambique, Myanmar, New Caledonia, Nigeria, North America, Pacific, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Ponape, SE Asia, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Singapore, South Africa - Natal, Southern Africa, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Tasmania, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Tonga, USA, Vietnam, West Africa,
How it is used
Food
Rating: 4
Corm - raw or cooked. A delicious taste, it is sweet and crisp when fully ripe and is starchy before that. Widely used in Chinese cooking, especially in chop suey. A flour or starch can be made from the dried and ground up corm and this is used to thicken sauces and to give a crisp coating to various deep-fried foods. The root is about 4cm in diameter, it contains about 36% starch. A nutritional analysis is available. The plant is used for making salt in Zimbabwe. No more details.
Root: includes bulbs, corms, tubers, rhizomes etc.
Salt: plants that provide a substitute for salt.
Medicine
Rating: 1
The plant is used to treat a number of ailments including abdominal pain, amenorrhoea, hernia and liver problems. The expressed juice of the tuber is bactericidal.
Antibacterial: Kills bacteria.
Hepatic: Acts on the liver (for better or worse!).
Miscellany: Various medicinal actions that need more clarification.
Other
Rating: 2
The leaf stems are used for weaving bags etc.
Fibre: Used for making cloth, rope, paper etc.
Miscellany: A rag-bag of items that are difficult to categorise.
Weaving: Items such as grass and palm leaves that are woven together for making mats, baskets etc. See also Basket making and Fibre.
Food Forest: Plants for Edible Forest Gardens and Food Forests.
How it is grown
A plant of marshes and shallow water, it prefers slightly acid soil conditions and a sunny position. Requires a rich fertile soil. Plants are not very frost hardy, the tubers should be harvested at the end of the growing season and stored in a cool damp but frost-free position until the spring. The water chestnut is widely cultivated for its edible tubers in China, there are some named varieties. It requires a 7-month frost-free growing season in order to produce a crop. Plants perform best at temperatures between 30 - 35°c during the leafy stage of growth, and about 5°c lower when the tubers are being formed. This species is unlikely to succeed outdoors in Britain, though by starting the plants off early in a greenhouse it might be possible to obtain reasonable yields in good summers. Eleocharis dulcis grows well in tropical and sub-tropical areas below an elevation of 1,200 metres. Plants perform best at temperatures between 30 - 35°c during the leafy stage of growth, and about 5°c lower when the tubers are being formed. A minimum soil/water temperature of 15°c is required for adequate development of the corms. Yields of 20 - 40 tonnes per hectare can be achieved.
Propagating it: Seed - we have no details for this species but suggest sowing the seed as soon as it is ripe in a greenhouse. Only just cover the seed and place the pot in 3cm of water to keep the soil wet. When they are large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and grow them on in the greenhouse for at least their first winter. Plant them out into their permanent positions in late spring or early summer, after the last expected frosts. Division. Harvest the tubers at the end of the growing season, store them in a cool but frost-free place over the winter and plant them out in early spring.
Best place to grow: Pond; Bog Garden;
Habit: Perennial
Hardiness: 9-12
Growth:
Soil: Light (sandy), medium, heavy (clay)
Shade: No shade
Moisture: Wet, water
Things to keep in mind
Its other names
Local names
Apulid, Biqi, Buslig, Chee-Chang, Chikai, Chinese Water Chestnut, Go nung, Ground-chestnut, Haeo cheen, Haeo-song krathiem, Inu kuro guwai, Kokthum, Kurogu-wai, Kuwai, Li zi, M'pofa, Ma Ti, Ma-Tai, Macre, Mampufa, Mem plong khtim, Okuroguwai, Pani phul, Po-chi, Singhara, Tall spike-rush, Tike, Waterchestnut, Waternut, Ye thit eir thee,
Synonyms
E. dulcis. Heliocharis tuberosa.