The water chestnutTrapa natans is a floating aquatic plant, growing in slow-moving water up to 5 meters deep. It is native to warm temperate Eurasia and Africa.
The species has two types of leaves, submerged and floating. The floating leaves are ovoid, 2-3 cm long, on petioles 5-9 cm long; the submerged leaves are finely divided.
The first population of waterchestnut in Maryland was documented in 1923 in a two-acre patch on the Potomac River outside of Washington D.C. Within a few years, the plant had spread over 40 river miles on the Potomac.
Waterchestnut was found in the Bird River, Baltimore County, in 1955 and subsequently in the Sassafras River, Kent County, in 1964.
Waterchestnut is presently found on the Sassafras and Bird rivers of Maryland, and in a number of ponds including a non-tidal pond above Lloyds Creek and in Urieville Lake in Kent County, Maryland.
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