''Sagittaria'' is a genus of about 303. Sagittaria Linnaeus
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Flora of North America The ''Flora of North America North of Mexico'' (usually referred to as ''FNA'') is a multivolume work describing the native plants and naturalized plants of North America, including the United States, Canada, St. Pierre and Miquelon, and Greenla ...

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aquatic plant Aquatic plants are plants that have adapted to living in aquatic environments (saltwater or freshwater). They are also referred to as hydrophytes or macrophytes to distinguish them from algae and other microphytes. A macrophyte is a plant that ...

s whose members go by a variety of common names, including arrowhead, duck potato, katniss, Omodaka (沢瀉 in Japanese), swamp potato, tule potato, and wapato (or wapatoo). Most are native to

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, but there are also some from

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Description

Sagittaria plant stock (the perennial rhizome) is a horizontal creeper (stoloniferous) and obliquely obovate, the margins winged, with apical or ventral beak; in other words, they are a small, dry, one-seeded fruit that do not open to release the seed, set on a slant, narrower at the base, with winged edges, and having a "beaked" aperture (one side longer than the other) for sprouting, set above or below the fruit body. One of the names for this plant is derived from the edible underwater

tuber Tubers are a type of enlarged structure used as storage organs for nutrients in some plants. They are used for the plant's perennation (survival of the winter or dry months), to provide energy and nutrients for regrowth during the next growing ...

that the plant produces. In late fall or early spring, disturbing the aquatic mud in which the plant grows will cause its small tubers to float to the surface where they can be harvested and then boiled. Image:SagittariaSagittifolia-bloem-kl.jpg, ''

Sagittaria sagittifolia ''Sagittaria sagittifolia'' (also called arrowhead due to the shape of its leaves) is a flowering plant in the family Alismataceae, native to wetlands most of Europe from Ireland and Portugal to Finland and Bulgaria, and in Russia, Ukraine, Siber ...

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Uses

Many species have edible roots, prized for millennia as a reliable source of starch and carbohydrates, even during the winter. Some are edible raw, though are less bitter when cooked. They can be harvested by hand or by treading with one's feet in the mud. They are easy to propagate by replanting the roots.

Species

Accepted species: # ''

Sagittaria aginashii ''Sagittaria'' is a genus of about 303. Sagittaria Linnaeus
'' Sagittaria ambigua'' J.G.Sm. – Missouri Arrowhead – from Oklahoma to Indiana # ''

Sagittaria australis ''Sagittaria australis,'' the Appalachian arrowhead or longbeak arrowhead, is a plant species native to much of the eastern part of the United States, from Louisiana to Iowa to New York State to Florida, mostly between New Jersey and Mississippi ...

'' (J.G.Sm.) Small – Appalachian Arrowhead – southeastern US from Louisiana to Florida and as far north as Iowa and New Jersey # ''

Sagittaria brevirostra ''Sagittaria brevirostra'', common name Midwestern arrowhead or shortbeak arrowhead, is an aquatic plant species native to North America. It is common in wet places in an area stretching from Michigan and Ohio south to Alabama and west to North D ...

'' Mack. & Bush – Shortbeak Arrowhead – central US (Great Plains, Mississippi and Ohio Valleys, Great Lakes); also Virginia and Saskatchewan; naturalized in California # ''

Sagittaria chapmanii ''Sagittaria'' is a genus of about 303. Sagittaria Linnaeus
'' Sagittaria cristata'' Engelm – Crested arrowhead – Great Lakes region # ''

Sagittaria cuneata ''Sagittaria cuneata'' is a species of flowering plant in the water plantain family known by the common name arumleaf arrowhead or duck potato. Like some other ''Sagittaria'' species, it may be called wapato. It is native to much of North Americ ...

'' E.P.Sheld. – Wapato, Northern Arrowhead, Swamp Potato – most of Canada including Yukon and Northwest Territories; Alaska; western and northeastern US # '' Sagittaria demersa'' J.G.Sm. – Chihuahuan arrowhead – New Mexico, northeastern Mexico # ''

Sagittaria engelmanniana ''Sagittaria engelmanniana'' (Engelmann's arrowhead or acid-water arrowhead) is an aquatic plant species native to eastern North America. It has been reported from every state bordering on the Gulf of Mexico or on the Atlantic Ocean from Mississi ...

'' J.G.Sm. – Engelmann's arrowhead – eastern US from Mississippi to Vermont # ''

Sagittaria fasciculata ''Sagittaria fasciculata'', the bunched arrowhead (also known as duck potato, Indian potato, or wapato) is a plant found in wetlands. This plant produces edible tubers that were heavily collected by the Native Americans as a food source. STATUS: ...

'' E.O.Beal – Bunched Arrowhead – North and South Carolina # ''

Sagittaria filiformis ''Sagittaria filiformis'', the threadleaf arrowhead, is an aquatic plant species native to the eastern United States, from Maine south to Florida and Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United ...

'' J.G.Sm. – Threadleaf Arrowhead – eastern US from Alabama to Maine # ''

Sagittaria graminea ''Sagittaria graminea'', the grassy arrowhead or grass-leaved arrowhead, is an aquatic plant species native to eastern North America. Description It is a perennial herb up to tall with narrow, grass-like leaves about in length and wide. A ...

'' Michx. – Grassy Arrowhead, Grass-leaved Arrowhead – Cuba; much of eastern and central US; eastern Canada; naturalized in Washington State and in Vietnam # ''

Sagittaria guayanensis ''Sagittaria guayanensis'', the Guyanese arrowhead, is an aquatic plant species. It is predominantly tropical, native to Mexico, Central America, the West Indies, and much of South America, as well as West Africa (from Senegal to Cameroon), sout ...

'' Kunth – Guyanese Arrowhead – widespread across Latin America, the West Indies, China, India, Southeast Asia; introduced into Louisiana # ''

Sagittaria intermedia ''Sagittaria'' is a genus of about 303. Sagittaria Linnaeus
'' Sagittaria isoetiformis ''Sagittaria isoetiformis'', common name quillwort arrowhead, is an aquatic plant species native to Cuba and to the southeastern United States (Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina )'' Animis opibusque para ...

'' J.G.Sm. – Quillwort Arrowhead – Cuba, from Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Carolinas # ''

Sagittaria kurziana ''Sagittaria kurziana'', common names springtape and strap-leaf sagittaria, is an aquatic plant species native to Florida and naturalized in the Mariana Islands. It grows along large springs, very often those with high sulfur content, and alon ...

'' Glück – Springtape or Strap-leaf Sagittaria – Florida; naturalized in Mariana Islands # ''

Sagittaria lancifolia ''Sagittaria lancifolia'', the bulltongue arrowhead, is a perennial, monocot plant in the family Alismataceae, genus ''Sagittaria'', with herbaceous growth patterns. It is native to the southeastern United States. It is known from every coastal ...

'' L. – Bulltongue Arrowhead – southeastern US from Texas to Delaware; West Indies; Latin America from southern Mexico to Brazil # ''

Sagittaria latifolia ''Sagittaria latifolia'' is a plant found in shallow wetlands and is sometimes known as broadleaf arrowhead, duck-potato, Indian potato, katniss, or wapato. This plant produces edible tubers that have traditionally been extensively used by Nati ...

'' Willd. – Duck-potato, Broad-leaved Arrowhead, Wapato – widespread across most of North America, the West Indies and northern South America; naturalized in Hawaii, the western Himalayas and parts of Europe # ''

Sagittaria lichuanensis ''Sagittaria'' is a genus of about 303. Sagittaria Linnaeus
''Flora of North ...

'' J.K.Chen, X.Z.Sun & H.Q.Wang – southern China # '' Sagittaria longiloba'' Engelm. ex J.G. Sm. – Longbarb Arrowhead – southern Great Plains, Arizona, New Mexico, California, Mexico, Nicaragua, Venezuela # '' Sagittaria × lunata'' C.D.Preston & Uotila – Sweden, Finland, northern Russia ''(S. natans × S. sagittifolia)'' # '' Sagittaria macrocarpa'' J.G.Sm. – Large-fruited Arrowhead – North and South Carolina # ''

Sagittaria macrophylla ''Sagittaria macrophylla'', common name papa de agua, is an aquatic plant species. It produces underground starchy tubers. that are edible. It has large, hastate (arrow-shaped) leaves with blades up to long. Terminal lobe is large and broadly la ...

'' Zucc. – Papa de agua – Mexico # '' Sagittaria montevidensis'' Cham. & Schltdl. – California Arrowhead – widespread across much of US, Mexico and South America # ''

Sagittaria natans ''Sagittaria natans'' is a species of flowering aquatic plant in the Alismataceae, water plantain family. It has floating leaves that are linear, heart-shaped or arrow-shaped. It is native to northern Europe and Asia and often cultivated elsewhe ...

'' Pall. – widespread across northern Europe and Asia from Sweden to Kamchatka; Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Japan, Korea # '' Sagittaria papillosa'' Buchenau – Nipplebract Arrowhead – Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas, Oklahoma # '' Sagittaria planitiana'' G.Agostini – Brazil, Venezuela # '' Sagittaria platyphylla'' (Engelm.) J.G.Sm. – Delta Arrowhead, Delta Duck-potato – south-central US with scattered populations in southeast, the Ohio Valley and Washington State; also Mexico and Panama; naturalized in South Australia, Italy, Java, Caucasus # '' Sagittaria potamogetifolia'' Merr. – southern China # '' Sagittaria pygmaea'' Miq. – Pygmy arrowhead – China, Japan, Korea, Himalayas, Thailand, Vietnam # '' Sagittaria rhombifolia'' Cham. – Costa Rica; widespread across much of South America # '' Sagittaria rigida'' Pursh. – Canadian Arrowhead – Canada from Quebec to Saskatchewan; common in northeastern and north-central US from Arkansas and Nebraska east to Virginia and New England; scattered populations in California, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington State; naturalised in Great Britain # ''

'' L. – Arrowhead – widespread across most of Europe; Siberia, Caucasus, Turkey # '' Sagittaria sanfordii'' Greene – Valley Arrowhead – endemic to California # '' Sagittaria secundifolia'' Kral – Little River Arrowhead – Georgia and Alabama # '' Sagittaria sprucei'' Micheli in A.L.P.P.de Candolle & A.C.P.de Candolle – Colombia, Peru, Venezuela, northern Brazil # ''

Sagittaria subulata ''Sagittaria subulata'', the awl-leaf arrowhead, narrow-leaved arrowhead or dwarf sagittaria, is an aquatic plant species. Description It is a perennial herb up to tall. The leaves are submersed or floating, narrowly linear to ovate, not lobe ...

'' L. Buchenau – Narrow-leaved Arrowhead – eastern US from Louisiana to Massachusetts; naturalized in Great Britain, Azores and Java # '' Sagittaria tengtsungensis'' H.Li – Tibet, Nepal, Bhutan, Yunnan # '' Sagittaria teres'' S.Watson – Slender Arrowhead – northeastern US # '' Sagittaria trifolia'' L. – Threeleaf Arrowhead – widespread across much of Asia including Siberia, China, Japan, India, Iran, Indonesia, Philippines, etc.; also Ukraine and European Russia; naturalized in Fiji and Polynesia

Formerly placed here

* '' Echinodorus palaefolius'' (Nees & Mart.) J.F.Macbr. (as ''S. palaefolia'' Nees & Mart.) * '' Limnophyton obtusifolium'' (L.) Miq. (as ''S. obtusifolia'' L.) * '' Wiesneria triandra'' (Dalzell) Micheli (as ''S. triandra'' Dalzell)

References

* Rataj, K., Annot. Zool. Bot. (Bratislava) 76:1–31 (1972); 78:1–61 (1972) * Staff of the L. H. Bailey Hortorium, Hortus Third, pg. 993

External links

Plants for a Future

Identification and edible parts of ''Sagittaria''. {{Taxonbar, from=Q157652 Alismataceae genera Edible plants Freshwater plants Root vegetables Tubers Plants used in Native American cuisine Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus