Abstract: ‘Meirenling’is a new early-to-mid-maturing water caltrop bred by artificial crossing between‘Hanchuan Hongling’（female parent）and‘Jiayuling’（male parent），and then by pedigree breeding. The tender fruit color is purplish-red. The fruit horn number is two. The upper horn tip shape is acute and the upper horn posture is horizontal and then deflex. The fruit shape is arched. The single fruit weight is 19.47 g and the ratio of flesh to whole fruit is 49.19%. The dry matter content，starch content and protein content of ripe fruit is 35.90%，24.70% and 4.06%，respectively. Its mealy degree is intermediate. It has excellent characteristics such as beatiful color，high yield and good commodity value. The harvest period of tender fruit is mid-to-late-July to early-to-mid-October. The yield is about 18 000 kg · hm^-2. It is suitable to plant in and around Hubei Province which has water caltrop cultivation.

Key words: font-family:", ">water caltropfont-family:宋体, ">；font-family:", ">early-to-mid maturingfont-family:宋体, ">；font-family:", ">cultivar