Water caltrop

Trapa natans

Trapa natans is a floating annual aquatic plants, growing in slow-moving water up to 5 m deep, native to warm temperate parts of Eurasia and Africa. This is one of the only 3 species in this genus (the other two being T. bicornis and T. rossica)
Water caltrop nut - Trapa natans I don't remeпber when we have collected this nut - maybe 25 years ago. Walking on the sandy beaches at the Bulgarian South Black Sea we used to often step on them, which was quite painful. I didn't know what's this until recently I read an article about this species. Nowadays the species is considered Endangered in Bulgaria and is included in the Bulgarian Red Book of plants. Black sea,Bulgaria,Burgas,Devil pod,Eudicot,Europe,Flowering Plant,Geotagged,Lythraceae,Magnoliophyta,Myrtales,Nature,Plantae,Summer,Trapa natans,Water caltrop,Wildlife,flower

Appearance

The stem grows up to 2 meters or more in length. Its leaves are two typеs. The first ones are underwater. The second ones are submerged, with swollen petiole filled with airbrush. They have a leaf with a rhombic shape and a serrated outer edge. Flying leaves form the visible part of the plant above the water surface. It resembles a rosette. The plant blooms in June - July. The flowers are small, with white petals. The fruit is a nut. It is also made of thick, black and hard shell and has four horn-shaped, transversal grooves.
Trapa natans Fall,Geotagged,Montenegro,Trapa natans,Water caltrop

Status

Endangered in Bulgaria, included in the Red book.

References:

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Taxonomy
KingdomPlantae
DivisionAngiosperms
ClassEudicots
OrderMyrtales
FamilyLythraceae
GenusTrapa
SpeciesTrapa natans
Photographed in
Bulgaria
Montenegro
United States of America