Further to my post in the Thai Food Forum, attached is a copy of my list, which I hope will explain this a little better.

Thanks for your help.

water chestnut.pdf

I have some more info ...

Somwang (สมหวัง) & Haeo (แห้ว) are the same, แห้ว is the more common word, as if you were buying a bag from a fruit cart on the street.

แห้ว is also the word for frustration / disapointment .. So, as far as I understand, the word is reversed to สมหวัง which means something like your hopes and dreams will come true. สมหวัง isnt a common word for the water chestnut, but more of a personal preference adopted by some due to the meaning of แห้ว.

The pdf seems to be a nice educational resource, I think if you were to include ต้น แห้ว (Dton Haeo) then you would have a picture like this

Dear recom273,

Thank you for your reply. I have just one thing I want to confirm so that I can add the photo you sent and finalize this list.

If SOMWANG and HAEO are the same, does that mean that:

DTON HAEO relates to the Eleocharis Dulcis group?

As you can see from the list, I indicate DTON HAEO as a water chestnut plant within the Trapa family.

Thank you for the information on 'frustrated'. I noticed that when I was researching and thought - what a coincidence.

Also, I think I will remove HAEO CHEEN/CHIIN from the list. I think perhaps someone just translated it as such, from the English word.

Looking forward to your (or anyone else's) confirmation. I appreciate your help.

Edited May 17, 201412 yr by Kanga Japan

Lythraceae Family

Water Caltrop = Buffalo Nut / 2 Prong Waterchestnut = Trapa Bicornis = กระจับ

Water Caltrop = 4 Prong Waterchestnut = Trapa Natans = กระจับ

The wife has never heard of any of the other words, but then its not something you see everyday, maybe they are regional dialect or Chinese translations.

Cyperaceae Family

Chinese Water Chestnut = Elococharis Dulcis = แห้ว ( or if you are a superstitious person (?), สมหวัง)

Fagaceae Family

Japanese Chestnut = Castanea Crenata = เกาลัด

Chinese Chestnut = Castanea Mollissima = เกาลัด

Sweet Chestnut = Castanea Sativa = เกาลัด

Alismataceae Family

Arrowhead plant = Sagittaria Trifolia = ??? I have my doubts on the translation - หัวลูกสอน (from thai-language.com) could mean this ..

IMHO ..

The ต้นแห้ว is the whole shabang of any waterchestnut ( it could even apply to the Lythraceae phylum too ), with regard to the flowers, leaf, root, fruit,

Just like this is a tomato plant or ต้นมะเขือเทศ is this

Hope that helps

Edited May 17, 201412 yr by recom273

water chestnut PDF.pdfDear recom273,

So sorry for my delay in replying, but I did not realise that you had replied until about an hour ago, when I was tidying up my files. Thank you for your detailed reply. I have revised my list according to your remarks and attach a copy.

Just a couple of questions, which you may be able to answer for me:

1. GAOLAT relates to 3 chestnuts - Japanese chestnut, Chinese chestnut and sweet chestnut.

The Japanese and Chinese chestnuts can also have their countries added at the end (YIIPUN and JIIN). The sweet chestnut is just GAOLAT. Can a word be added at the end of that - for example 'sweet'?

2. Regarding the arrowhead, I am afraid that I can only rely on what I have. I notice, however that your Thai script for HUAA LUUK SAAWN is different from the one I had. Which is correct?

Thank you so much for your help.