Pokok Kacang Tanduk / Buffalo Nuts / Water Caltop plant / Trapa Bicornis

(Buffalo Nut/Water Caltrop)

(View of the Buffalo Nut)

(Water Caltrop's leaves)

(Buffalo Nut ready to be harvested)

(Buffalo Nut)

SCIENTIFIC NAME/ NAMA SAINS:  

Trapa bicornis

FAMILY NAME/NAMA FAMILI

Trapacaea

COMMON NAME/ NAMA BIASA

• Water caltrop.
• Bat Nut
• Goat Head
• Bull Nut
• Buffalo Nut
• Ling nut( Língjiǎo)
• Ling Kok
• Ling kio
• Singhada
• Pani-phal
• Shingoda
• Singhara
• Kacang Tanduk

ORIGIN/NEGARA ASAL

Asia and Africa

DESCRIPTION

• Floating annual aquatic plants
• Growing in slow moving or stagnant water 
• Roman soldiers threw into the paths of horses to injure their feet
• Cultivated in China and India for at least 3,000 years for the edible seeds

STEM

• Submerged stem reaches 12 to 15 feet (3.6 to 4.5 meters) in length, 
• Anchored into the mud by very fine roots. 

LEAVES

• 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 at the water's surface. 
• The floating leaves have saw-tooth edges and are ovoid or triangular in shape, 2–3cm long, on inflated petioles 5–9 cm long, which provide added buoyancy for the leafy portion. 

FLOWERS

• Four-petalled white flowers
• insect pollinated.

SEEDS

• Edible
• seeds can remain viable for up to 12 years
• although most will germinate within the first two years. 
• Called Ling Nut in China and it is considered a lucky food to eat
• The fruit is a nut with four 0.5 in (1cm),
• barbed spines

PROPAGATION

• The plant spreads by the rosettes 
• fruits detaching from the stem