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{{Short description|Genus of flowering plants}}
{{automatic taxobox
| name = Water caltrop
| image = Illustration Trapa natans1.jpg
| image_caption = ''Trapa natans''
| parent_authority = [[Joachim Otto Voigt|Voigt]]
| taxon = Trapa
| authority = [[Carl Linnaeus|L.]]
| type_species = ''Trapa natans''
| type_species_authority = L.
| subdivision_ranks = Species
| subdivision =
*''[[Trapa natans]]''
*''[[Trapa bicornis]]''
*''[[Trapa rossica]]''
}}

The '''water caltrop''' is any of three extant species of the [[genus]] ''Trapa'': ''Trapa natans'', ''Trapa bicornis'' and the endangered ''Trapa rossica''. It is also known as '''buffalo nut''', '''bat nut''', '''devil pod''', '''ling nut''', '''''lin kok''', '''ling jow''''', '''ling kio nut''''', '''mustache nut''' or '''''singhara'''''.

The species are floating [[annual plant|annual]] [[aquatic plant]]s, growing in slow-moving freshwater up to {{Convert|5|m|abbr=on}} deep, native to warm temperate parts of Eurasia and Africa. They bear ornately shaped fruits, which in the case of ''T. bicornis'' resemble the head of a bull or the [[silhouette]] of a flying [[bat]]. Each fruit contains a single very large, starchy seed. ''T. natans'' and ''T. bicornis'' have been cultivated in China and the Indian subcontinent for the edible seeds for at least 3,000 years.

==Etymology==
The generic name ''Trapa'' is derived from the Latin word for "[[thistle]]", ''calcitrappa'', as also is another common name for the water [[caltrop]].{{citation needed|date=May 2021}}

The plant's name in Japanese is ''hishi'', a word that is also used to mean "a diamond or lozenge shape, a rhombus". The manufacturing group [[Mitsubishi]] takes its name and logo from the water caltrop.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.mitsubishi.com/en/profile/group/mark/|title=Mitsubishi Mark|website=www.mitsubishi.com|access-date=14 May 2021}}</ref>

It is called ''Shringataka'' in [[Sanskrit]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.easyayurveda.com/2016/08/09/shringataka-trapa-bispinosa/|title=Shringataka |date=9 August 2016 |access-date= 8 December 2021}}</ref> which is shortened to ''Shingara'' in [[Hindi]] language. In Eastern India, the [[samosa]] a fried or baked [[pastry]] is also called Shingara because its shape resembles that of the Shingara fruit.

== Biology ==
{{More citations needed section|date=April 2021}}
[[File:Trapa_natans0.jpg|thumb|left|A [[rosette (botany)|rosette]] of water caltrop leaves]]

The water caltrop's submerged stem reaches {{convert|12|to|15|ft|m|abbr=on|order=flip}} in length, anchored into the mud by very fine roots. It has two types of leaves: finely divided, feather-like submerged leaves borne along the length of the stem, and undivided floating leaves borne in a [[rosette (botany)|rosette]] at the water's surface. The floating leaves have saw-tooth edges and are ovoid or triangular in shape, {{Convert|2-3|cm|in|frac=4|abbr=on}} long, on inflated petioles {{Convert|5-9|cm|frac=2|abbr=on}} long, which provide added buoyancy for the leafy portion. Four-petalled white flowers form in early summer and are [[insect-pollinated]].{{citation needed|date=October 2016}} The fruit is a nut with four {{convert|1/2|in|cm|0|abbr=on|order=flip}} barbed spines. Seeds can remain viable up to 12 years, although most germinate within the first two years.

The plant spreads by the rosettes and fruits detaching from the stem and floating to another area on currents or by fruits clinging to objects, and animals.

This plant should not be confused with the unrelated ''[[Eleocharis dulcis]]'', also called a water chestnut. ''Eleocharis'' is also an aquatic plant raised for food since ancient times in China. ''E. dulcis'' is a [[Cyperaceae|sedge]], whose round, crisp-fleshed [[corm]]s are common in [[Chinese food]].

==Fossil record==
The genus has an extensive fossil record, with numerous, distinctive species. Undisputed fossilized seeds have been found in [[Cenozoic]] strata starting from the [[Eocene]] throughout [[Europe]], [[China]] and [[North America]] (though, the genus became extinct in North America prior to the [[Pleistocene]]).<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=rN4qAQAAIAAJ&pg=RA2-PA266&dq=fossil+trapa+torreya&hl=en&ei=MAV6Ts2gFeTViAKEp_3MDw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CC0Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=trapa&f=false Berry, Edward. "TWO NEW TERTIARY SPECIES OF TRAPA"]</ref> The oldest known fossils attributed to the genus, however, are of leaves from [[Cretaceous]] [[Alaska]], referred to the species, ''T. borealis''.<ref name=Hollick>{{cite book|last=Hollick|first=Charles Arthur|title=The Tertiary floras of Alaska, Issues 181–184|year=1936|publisher=United States Government Print Office|pages=156|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bmvnAAAAMAAJ&q=cretaceous+%22trapa%22+fossil&pg=PA156}}</ref>

[[File:Trapa natans seeds.jpg|thumb|Water caltrop (''T. natans'') fruits]]
[[Image:Water-caltrops.jpg|thumb|right|Boiled water caltrop (''Trapa bicornis'') seeds]]

== History ==
Investigations of archaeological material from southern Germany indicate that the prehistoric population of that region may well have relied significantly upon wild water caltrops to supplement their normal diet and, in times of cultivated cereal crop failure, water caltrops may even have been the main dietary component.<ref name="karg">Karg, S. 2006. The water caltrop (''Trapa natans'' L.) as a food resource during the 4th to 1st millennia BC at [[Lake Federsee]], [[Bad Buchau]] (southern Germany). Environmental Archaeology 11 (1): 125–130.</ref> Today, water caltrop is so rare in Germany that it is listed as an endangered species.<ref>[[:de:Wassernuss]]</ref>

Water caltrop has been an important food for worship as prayer offerings since the Chinese [[Zhou Dynasty]]. The [[Rites of Zhou]] (second century BC) mentioned that a worshipper "should use a bamboo basket containing dried water caltrops, the seeds of ''[[Euryale ferox]]'' and [[caltrops]]" (加籩之實，菱芡栗脯). The ''Chinese Herbal Medicine Summary'' (本草備要 published in 1694, written by Wang Ang 汪昂) indicates that water caltrop can help [[fever]] and drunkenness.{{Cn|date=May 2021}} 

In India and Pakistan, it is known as ''singhara'' or ''paniphal'' (eastern India) and is widely cultivated in freshwater lakes. The fruits are eaten raw or boiled. When the fruit has been dried, it is ground to a flour called ''singhare ka atta'', used in many religious rituals, and can be consumed as a ''phalahar'' (fruit diet) on the [[Hindu]] fasting days, the [[Navratri|navratas]].<ref>{{cite news| url=http://health.indiatimes.com/articleshow/msid-207309,prtpage-1.cms |title=Tips To A Healthy 'Navratra' | work=The Times Of India}}</ref>

It was possible to buy water caltrops in markets all over Europe until 1880. In northern [[Italy]], the nuts were offered roasted, much as sweet chestnuts (''[[Castanea sativa]]'') are still sold today. In many parts of Europe, water caltrops were known and used for human food until the beginning of the 20th century. Today, however, it is a rare plant in Europe. Several reasons for its near extinction exist, such as climate fluctuations, changes in the nutrient content of water bodies, and the drainage of many wetlands, ponds, and oxbow lakes.<ref name="karg"/>

''T. natans'' was, however, introduced to the US State of Massachusetts around 1874, as a planting in the Harvard University Botanic Garden. Staff gardener Louis Guerineau took it upon himself to throw seeds into Fresh Pond and other Cambridge waterways. This came to the attention of Medford-based botanist George E. Davenport, who decided to bring seeds and live plants to his friend Minor Pratt, in Concord. He and Pratt seeded a pond near the Sudbury River, and he suspected Pratt of conducting additional distributions. As early as 1879, concern was voiced by botanist [[Charles Sprague Sargent]], director of Boston's [[Arnold Arboretum]], that this non-native species threatened to become a nuisance, based on dense growths reported in Cambridge. Davenport confessed in an entry in the Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club, Vol. 6, page 352: "I have several times had plants of ''Trapa natans'' that were collected in the vicinity of Boston, during the present year, brought to me for identification, and I have entertained no doubt as to the manner of its introduction into waters outside Cambridge Botanic Garden. But that so fine a plant as this, with its handsome leafy rosettes and edible nuts, which would, if common, be as attractive to boys as hickory nuts now are, can ever become a 'nuisance' I can scarcely believe."<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Davenport|first=Geo. E.|date=1879|title=Trapa natans|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2476842|journal=Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club|volume=6|issue=58|pages=352|jstor=2476842|issn=0040-9618}}</ref>

Water caltrop has been declared an [[invasive species]] from [[Vermont]] to [[Virginia]],<ref>{{cite conference |url=http://www.invasive.org/eastern/biocontrol/3WaterChestnut.html |title=Water Chestnut |author=R. W. Pemberton |book-title=Biological Control of Invasive Plants in the Eastern United States |editor=Van Driesche, R. |year=2002 |publisher=USDA Forest Service |display-editors=etal}}</ref> and is classified as a noxious weed in [[Florida]], [[North Carolina]], and [[Washington (state)|Washington]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=TRBI5 |title = USDA Plants Database}}</ref> As of 2020, both ''T. natans'' and ''T. bicornis'' have been reported growing wild in the waterways of the United States.<ref name="BayJournal">{{cite news |last=Cox |first=Jeremy |date=July 27, 2020 |title= Invasive water plant poised to overwhelm Potomac watershed |url=https://www.bayjournal.com/news/fisheries/invasive-water-plant-poised-to-overwhelm-potomac-watershed/article_83f2fc70-c830-11ea-8425-f74212a7eb1b.html |work=Bay Journal |access-date=July 29, 2020}}</ref>

In [[Australia]] and its state of [[New South Wales]] water caltrop has been declared a noxious weed.{{Cn|date=May 2021}}

<gallery widths="200px" heights="200px">
Image:Taiwan 2009 Tainan City Water Caltrop Field FRD 7922.jpg|Water caltrop field in [[Tainan City]]
File:Leiden University Library - Seikei Zusetsu vol. 28, page 024 - 芰 - Trapa sp, 1804.jpg|Water Caltrop from the Japanese agricultural encyclopedia ''[[Seikei Zusetsu]]'' (1804)
</gallery>

===Legality of sale and shipment in the United States===
In 1956 ''T. natans'' was banned for sale or shipment in the [[United States]], subject to a fine and/or imprisonment.<ref name="US-ban-law" /> This law was repealed by HR133<ref>{{Cite web|last=Cuellar|first=Henry|date=2020-12-27|title=H.R.133 - 116th Congress (2019-2020): Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021|url=https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-bill/133|access-date=2020-12-29|publisher=www.congress.gov}}</ref> ([[116th United States Congress]] (2019–2020)) on December 27, 2020.{{full citation needed|date=December 2020}}{{failed verification|date=December 2020}}

== Role in fasciolopsiasis transmission ==
[[Fasciolopsiasis]] is an ailment resulting from infection by the trematode ''[[Fasciolopsis buski]]'', an intestinal fluke of humans, endemic in China, Taiwan, Southeast Asia, Indonesia, Malaysia, and India; this fluke can be transmitted via the surfaces of these and other water plants.{{Cn|date=May 2021}}

During the [[cercaria|metacercaria]]l stage in their lifecycle, the larval flukes leave their water snail hosts, and swim away to form cysts on the surfaces of water plants, including the leaves and fruit of water caltrops. If infected water plants are consumed raw or undercooked, the flukes can infect pigs, humans, and other animals.{{Cn|date=May 2021}}

== Chemistry ==
[[Bicornin]] is an [[ellagitannin]] found in ''T. bicornis''.<ref>Bicornin, a new hydrolyzable tannin from ''T. bicornis'', and revised structure of alnusiin. Yoshida T, Yazaki K, Memon M.U, Maruyama I, Kurokawa K and Okuda T, Heterocycles, 1989, volume 29, number 5, pages 861–864 {{INIST|6780591}}</ref>

== References ==
{{Reflist|refs=
<ref name="US-ban-law">{{cite act|url=http://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/USCODE-2011-title18/USCODE-2011-title18-partI-chap3-sec46|title=Transportation of water hyacinths|legislature=[[United States Congress]]|date=1 August 1956|type=Bill|index=18 U.S. Code § 46}}</ref>
}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category|Trapa}}
{{Wikispecies|Trapa}}
{{unimelb|Trapa.html}}
* [https://www.invasivespeciesinfo.gov/profile/water-chestnut Species Profile - Water Chestnut (''Trapa natans'')], National Invasive Species Information Center, [[United States National Agricultural Library]]. Lists general information and resources for Water Chestnut.

{{WestAfricanPlants|Trapa natans}}
{{Taxonbar|from1=Q2487780|from2=Q161110}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Edible nuts and seeds]]
[[Category:Hong Kong cuisine]]
[[Category:Lythraceae]]

{{interwiki extra|qid=Q161110}}

Water caltrop - Revision history

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