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Water Chestnut FAQs

1. How does it impact our waters?

• Restricts light availability and oxygen content in water
• Outcompetes native plants - each plant can produce 400 new plants!
  • Each seed can produce 5 - 20 rosettes
  • Eash rosette can produce up to 20 seeds
• Dense mats impede fishing, boating, and recreating

2. What does it look like?

 

• Floating leaves are toothed and triangular
• Submerged leaves are whorled and feathery
• In early August:
  • Small, white flowers start to blossom
  • Green, spiky seeds are present under floating rosettes (Rosette: a circular arrangement of leaves or of structures resembling leaves)
• Seeds of active plants are black and sharper!

3. How do I pull this plant? See our video on youtube

• Ensure you are safetly able to remove the plant
• Move the rosette onto a stable surface (i.e. a lilypad, your watercraft)
• Position your hand as far down the plant stem as you can safetly and grip the plant.
• GENTLY wiggle the stem upwards to try and dislodge the seed from the river bottom
• Slowly pull the stem until you get the seed - take note of the spikes!

4. When should plants be pulled?

• Mid-June through August

5. How do I dispose of them?

• Transport them carefully to shore
• In a sunny area NOT near water
• Avoid: flowing water or frequently wet spots

6. How does water chestnut spread?

• Seeds!
• With sharp spikes, seeds hitch rides on watercraft and wildlife and spread to new locations

7. What if I find them?

• Reach out to us!
• windhamcountynrcd@gmail.com

8. How can I prevent the spread?

• Clean, drain, and dry your watercraft

9. How did the plants get here?

• Originally from Europe, this is a non-native, introduced plant
• Initial transplant at Harvard in 1877