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Karen Jean Smith - Ceramics
Water Chestnuts: Overview
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Explorations of a Nemesis
Aesthetic and imaginative interpretations in ceramic of the water chestnut, an invasive species of the northeastern United States.
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![IMG_0291.JPG](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/1ef1f1_9d64f002c6503069b4e970586bb83372.jpg/v1/crop/x_0,y_1460,w_2448,h_1669/fill/w_188,h_123,al_c,q_80,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_auto/IMG_0291_JPG.jpg)
![Karen Smith waterchestnut barbs 006.JPG](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/1ef1f1_ce6ad8145ef9a87ee430bb81f7a0caff.jpg/v1/crop/x_572,y_0,w_2005,h_1333/fill/w_193,h_125,al_c,q_80,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_auto/Karen%20Smith%20waterchestnut%20barbs%20006_JPG.jpg)
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Photo Credits:
*Barb: Don Seymour
**All others: Karen Jean Smith
Some basic facts:
- The Latin name for water chestnuts is “Trapa natans.”
- Different varieties of traps nations can be found in Europe, Asia and the northern countries of Africa.
- The European water chestnut was introduced to the United States in the mid 19th century.
- In the United States it is considered an invasive species and has no natural predators.
- One nut can produce several rosettes, which can then produce up to 20 seeds apiece.
- Mature nuts are released from the plants and sink to the water bottom where they can remain viable for up to 12 years.
- Each nut has four sharp barbed points.
- The rapid growth of water chestnuts inhibits the ecology of the area as well as recreation and economic activity.
- Populations can be reduced through the use of herbicides, mechanical harvesters, and pulling or dredging by hand. Pulling by hand is the least damaging to the environment.
- Water chestnuts have been found in New York, Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, Vermont, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Quebec.
- Control can be very expensive. Over the past 20 years, 2.8 million dollars has been spent in the Chesapeake Bay area alone.
Source: Eyres, Willow, June 2009.Water Chestnut Infestation in the Susquehanna Watershed, Occasional Paper No. 44, State University of New York, College at Oneonta