The water chestnut, pinyin: bí qí, is a plant of the Salix family and the water chestnut genus.

It is distributed in China, Japan, the Ryukyu Islands, the South Seas Islands (Luzon Island is the origin of the first discovery of this species) and India. In China it occurs in Taiwan, Jiangsu, Guangdong, and Hainan. It grows on flat land with water.

Water chestnut is one of China's characteristic vegetables, usually underground bulbs for consumption, can be eaten raw, cooked or cooked, especially suitable for making canned food, known as "clear water horseshoe", is one of the main ingredients in the restaurant.

Extended information:

Water chestnut likes warmth and humidity, does not tolerate frost, and often grows in shallow fields, water chestnut in the growth of the first period needs high temperature and long sunshine, such as germination temperature of 15-20 degrees Celsius, tillering and branching. 15-20 ℃, tiller planting optimal temperature of 25-30 ℃;

And in the later stages of growth, shorten the number of hours of light (less than 13 hours) can promote the formation of bulbs, lower temperatures (20-25 ℃) is also conducive to bulb expansion. The soil should be sandy loam or humus loam with a shallow layer and pH 6-7.

The growing period of water chestnut is 140-200 days. Bulbs can overwinter in the soil, to the next spring to the terminal buds draw inconspicuous shortened stems, the base of the stem node downward to produce slender fibrous roots, into the soil about 20-30 cm, upward to produce when the stems (tubular stems), and continue to tiller, the formation of the mother plant.