[WikiEN-l] Water chestnuts

[Gregory Kohs]

Oldak says:
++++++++++++++++
Just some quick Google results:
+"Water chestnut" +"Eleocharis dulcis"
(
http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=%2B%22Water+chestnut%22+%2B%22Eleocharis+dulcis%22
)
produces  807 results)

+"Water chestnut" +"Trapa natans"
(
http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&safe=off&client=firefox&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-GB%3Aunofficial&hs=EKn&q=%2B%22Water+chestnut%22+%2B%22Trapa+natans%22&btnG=Search&meta=
)
gives 25,700 results

Without searching further, wouldn't the page (were it not a
disambiguation page) better point to T. natans, rather than E. dulcis
as you suggest?
+++++++++++++++++

Oldak, I don't mean to be snippy, but, I don't really care what Google
results on that search say, if (according to Wikipedia)...

Water caltrop is:
"sold as an occasional streetside snack in the south of" China.

Eleocharis dulcis is:
"The small, rounded corms <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corm> have a crispy
white flesh and can be eaten raw, slightly boiled, grilled, pickled, or
tinned <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canning>. They are a popular ingredient
in Western-style Chinese dishes. In China, they are most often eaten raw,
sometimes sweetened. They can also be ground into a
flour<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flour>which is used especially to
make fried cakes called
*matigao* (马蹄糕; mǎtí gāo). They are unusual among vegetables for remaining
crisp even after being cooked or canned."

Which one do you think 98% of Wikipedia users are actually searching for?
How many of them might be confused by their "eenie meenie mynie moe" on the
disambiguation page.

And Thomas Dalton said:
**********************
It would appear that two different plants are known as "Water
chestnut" and neither is significantly more important than the other,
so we have a disambig page.
**********************
To which I'd say, see "above".

By the way, great point from Andrew Gray about the "corn" issue, especially
in Europe.  Maybe "corn" was not my best counter-example.  How about:
[[Nutmeg]]?

-- 
Gregory Kohs
Cell: 302.463.1354