Hydrocaryaceae

Plant Characteristics

Cultivation

Scientific Names

Read about Hydrocaryaceae in the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture

Hydrocaryaceae (from the Greek signifying water-walnut). Water Chestnut Family. Herbaceous, aquatic plants, mostly floating: stems slender, clothed with opposite, pinnatifid roots: leaves alternate, crowded at the summit of the stem, floating, rhomboid, petioled; petioles forming thick, hollow floats: flowers bisexual, regular, slightly perigynous, axillary; sepals 4; petals 4; stamens 4, all sets alternating; ovary surrounded by an erect, corona-like disk, half-inferior, 2-celled; cells 1-ovuled; style and stigma 1: fruit a woody 1-celled, 1-seeded nut bearing on the surface the four divergent woody horn-like sepals and capped by the woody disk. A single genus and 3 species occur, distributed in the Mediterranean region and eastward to eastern Asia. This is an ancient family, more common in the tertiary. The family is related to the Onagraceae, with which it is frequently united, and to the Haloragidaceae, and is somewhat intermediate between these two families. The fruit, disk, and habit are peculiar. The starchy seeds have a chestnut-like flavor and are eaten raw or cooked, for which reason the plants are often cultivated. The fruits are regularly sold in the markets of India; those of Trapa natans var. verbanensis are used as beads. Trapa natans (Water Chestnut, Water Caltrops) and T. bispinosa (Singhara Nut) are grown in this country as aquarium plants. See article on Trapa. CH The above text is from the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture. It may be out of date, but still contains valuable and interesting information which can be incorporated into the remainder of the article. Click on "Collapse" in the header to hide this text.

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References

• Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture, by L. H. Bailey, MacMillan Co., 1963

External links

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