Plant: Arrowhead Sagittarius
 

Name: Broadleaf Arrowhead

Genus: Sagittarius
Family: Alismataceae (Water Plantain)

 


Sagittaria latifolia var. latifolia

 Discussion:  The broadleaf arrowhead is a perennial herb with a stout rootstock.  It lives in shallow water or around lakes, ponds, and marshes.  It ranges all throughout Illinois.  The broadleaf arrowhead blooms from July to September.  Its achenes are eaten by waterfowl, while its rootstocks are an important source of food for muskrats.  Another name for the broadleaf arrowhead is the ”duck potato.”

Description:

Stems:  up to 4 ft tall, smooth, baring only flowers

Fruits:  a cluster of achenes approximately 1/6 in. long

Flowers: separate male and female flowers, white in color, up to 1 ˝ in across

Leaves:  basal colored, mostly arrowhead shaped, pointed at the tips, up to 15 in. long

Sepals:  3, separate from one another, green

Petals:  3, apart from each other, white

Stamens:  many

Pistils:  numerous, separate from each other, all have superior ovaries

 

 

Image:

Location:

N 40 36 993

W 90 12 92

Written by:

J. Freeman,

A. McKown,

A. Duley,

A. Kellogg, and

N. Carroll

 

© Copyright 2004, Spoon River Valley High School, all rights reserved.
Photos courtesy: http://www.ct-botanical-society.org/galleries/sagittarialati.html
http://www.delawarewildflowers.org/1764.html
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