Euryale ferox

Illustration of Euryale ferox

The spiked water lily ( Euryale ferox ) is the only species of the genus Euryale of the family Nymphaeaceae ( Nymphaeaceae ). It is in the tropical and subtropical zones of East Asia (Northern India, Bangladesh, Kashmir, China, Taiwan, Japan, Korea and the " Far East " in Russia ) at home. It thrives in stagnant freshwater.

Name

The first description was in 1805 by Richard Anthony Salisbury in KDKönig & Sims: Annals of Botany, 2: 74

English common names for the plant are Prickly Water Lily and Gorgon Plant. Name for the seeds are Foxnut, gorgon, Makhana, onibasu (in Japan), qian shi ( in China).

Description

It is an annual to a few years perennial herbaceous plant, with an erect, unbranched rhizome.

Are formed underwater and floating leaves. The stingless underwater leaves have a 4 to 10 cm wide leaf blade whose base is deeply cordate. Their spiky, almost leathery floating leaves are extremely gorgeous and are sized only by those of the Royal Waterlily (Victoria regia) exceeded. Their round leaf blade usually (rarely up to 2.7 ) has a diameter up to 1.3 meters and is open at both ends with " spines". In structure and color, they can be described as a wrinkled upper side and olive green, the purple leaf veins catches your eye, whereas they are dyed purple hand only. The stems of the floating leaves are prickly.

The flower stems are prickly. The hermaphroditic and Nymphaeaceae Euryale ferox relatively small flowers have a diameter of up to 5 cm. The four green, 1 to 1.5 (rarely up to 3) cm large sepals ( sepals ) have outside bent back " spines". The outer petals are are violet-blue, and are inwardly always brighter up to a white ring near the flower center; they are 1 to 2.5 cm long. The seven to 16 carpels are fused into an ovary. The carpel are six to eight ovules available. The relatively short-lived flowers are ( Flowering period: June to August) only during the summer above the water level.

The dark purple-colored, spherical fruit has a diameter of 5 to 10 cm, many spines and contains eight to many seeds. The round, smooth black seeds have a diameter of 6 to 10 mm and an aril. The seed coat ( testa) is thick and hard.

Use

Among other things, this aquatic plant is used as an ornamental plant for ponds.

Generally, however, the spiked water lily can be viewed as a perennial plant in temperate zones usually not enough their life far beyond one year, so she prefers to grow in sunny areas. It is usually cultivated as an annual plant, so newly sown each year.

The roughly the size of a small orange owning fruit is mild and mushy inside. It is very appreciated in China as a cooling, stimulating food. The approximately pea-sized seeds are sold fresh and dried in Southeast Asia. Most seeds are eaten after roasting. Strength is obtained from the seeds. Very young stems and rhizomes are eaten.

3.05 t / ha production of fresh fruits can be achieved. The fresh weight of fruit is just under 160 grams, the fresh weight of a seed is just under 1 g Biochemical analyzes of seed yield: 61 % carbohydrates, 15.6 % protein, 12.1% water content, 7.6 % fiber content, 1.8% ash and 1.35 % fat. The seeds contain twelve amino acids: histidine, leucine, isoleucine, glutamic acid, lysine, tyrosine, valine, aspartic acid, threonine, alanine, methionine and arginine.

Healing effects were examined.

Swell

• Dezhi Fu, John H. Wiersema & Donald Padgett: Nymphaeaceae in the Flora of China, Volume 6, page 118: Euryale ferox - genus and species - Online. (English )
• Md Almujaddade Alfasane, Moniruzzaman Khondker, ZN Tahmida Begum, Laila Arjumand Banu, Md Mahbubar Rahman, Fatema Umma Shahjadee: Fruit Production and biochemical aspects of Euryale ferox seeds of Salisb. under ex situ conditions., Bangladesh J. Bot, 37 (2 ), 2008, pp. 179-181. ISSN: 0253-5416: Online. doi: 10.3329/bjb.v37i2.1727
• Vernon Hilton Heywood: Flowering plants of the world, Basel- Boston -Stuttgart, 1978.