Surfacing leaves are triangular with toothed edges and an inflated petiole, or leaf stalk, and form a rosette on the water surface. White flowers form in the axils of the surfacing leaves in July. Long cord-like rarely branching stems can attain lengths of up to 16 feet.
Water chestnut grows in freshwater lakes and ponds and slow moving streams and rivers.
It prefers calm, shallow, nutrient-rich waters. Reproduction A true annual, water chestnut reproduces by overwintering seeds. Single-seeded woody fruits produced from pollinated flowers the previous year germinate in early spring. A single seed may give rise to 10 to15 plant rosettes. Each rosette can produce up to 15 to 20 seeds.