October, 2003 JK
October, 2003 JK
October, 2003 JK
October, 2003 JK
October, 2003 JK
Leaf: Basal, simple, firm; lance-like or arrowhead-shaped, rounded or somewhat pointed at the tip, up to 38 cm long; margin entire (no teeth); upper surface dark green, smooth, dull-looking; lower surface pale green, with raised veins; leafstalks thin, long, rising from the underground rhizome. The leaves show large variation in width and shape.
Flower: Arranged in long-stalked clusters (racemes) with flowers in whorls of 3, the lower female, the upper male with 25 to 40 stamens; each flower 1.6 cm wide with 3 white petals that fall off early, 3 greenish sepals; on upright, smooth, stalk up to 1.2 m tall, growing up directly from the rhizome; blooming June through October.
Fruit: A globular cluster of sharp-beaked, flattened, winged achenes; each 4 mm long.
Form: Perennial herb with stout rootstalk, up to 1 m tall; an emergent aquatic.
Discussion
Sagittaria latifolia
is from the Latin word sagitta (an arrow), referring to the shape of the
leaves and latifolia, meaning broad-leaved. The plants are native
to North America.
Arrowheads store food in tubers ranging from
walnut-sized to the size of a golf ball or hen’s egg. The tubers are an important food source for waterfowl, hence
the name duck potato. Many
shorebirds, other waterfowl, and aquatic mammals like the otter and muskrat eat
all parts of the plant, including tubers, leaves, and seeds.
Arrowhead can grow aggressively, spreading to
form large patches of plants which can span slow-moving streams or artificial
waterways. These dense patches are
important spawning and nursery grounds for some species of fish.
Sagittaria latifolia
is fairly tolerant of pollution, and it can absorb and harbor significant
quantities of toxic heavy metals from the surroundings.
The plants take up excess nutrients, as well.
Thus, arrowhead improves conditions for other organisms in the ecosystem.
Arrowhead does not tolerate high alkalinity or salinity.
Native Americans harvested and ate the
starchy tubers, which some called “wapato”.
Wapato was not their traditional word for the plant, but a pidgin word
related to various words for potato. Before
the potato was introduced to North America from Peru, the wapato, or duck
potato, was carefully tended and even traded by many native tribes.
The Native Americans cleared other plants away from the stands of wapato
and harvested the tubers by pulling the plants or wading through the mud and
using their toes to bring up the tubers. This
harvest usually occurred during the fall. Tubers
would keep several months in storage if they were laid aside without being
cleaned. Alternatively, tubers that
were left in the ground kept indefinitely and could be harvested as needed in
areas where frozen ground wasn’t a problem.
Wapato tubers were easily baked in hot ashes, and formed the carbohydrate
complement of many diets which were naturally high in protein from fish or game.
The Mohawk (Native Americans) made an
infusion of Sweet Flag root (Arocus calamus) and the entire Arrowhead
plant to give to infants suffering from night fever. Other medicinal uses
of the plants included grinding the roots to make a tea for indigestion or to
make a poultice for wounds, making a tea from the leaves as a remedy for
rheumatism, to wash babies with fever, and to use in a poultice to stop milk
production.
Though arrowhead tubers are not widely utilized as a food source in modern times, we could still harvest and prepare them by baking or boiling for about 30 minutes. They are said to have a taste and texture like potatoes, but a bit sweeter. Consuming arrowhead tubers from plants growing in polluted waters would be a very bad idea, as the plants concentrate heavy metals and other pollutants.
Arrowhead can cause redness and an itchy rash in people with very sensitive skin, though this is not a common reaction.Distinguishing Characteristics
Arrowhead is an emergent aquatic plant with arrow-shaped leaves and stalks of white flowers, both rising from underground rhizomes which produce tubers the size and shape of a chicken egg.
Associated Plants
Pickerel weed (Pontederia cordata), cattails (Typha spp.), sedges, rushes, grasses, and lesser bur-reed (Sparganium americanum).
Distribution
Arrowhead is commonly distributed throughout North America, occupying freshwater wetlands, streamsides, ditches, floodplains, low-lying areas with wet mud, and the borders of lakes or ponds; tolerating water up to 50 cm deep.
Images
Click each small picture to see a larger image.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Location
N 39.2793° W -89.89250°
Roadside ditch by the circle drive at Carlinville High
School, 829 West Main, Carlinville, Macoupin County, IL.
Copyright
Photos © 2003 Kandie Shockley and Joe Konneker, Carlinville High School, linke@carlinvilleschools.net
References
Venning, Frank D. 1984. Wildflowers of North America. Western Publishing Company, Inc., Racine (WI). 340 pp.
Illinois Dept. of Natural Resources. 2000. A field guide to the wetlands of Illinois. 2nd ed. Illinois Dept. of Natural Resources, Springfield. 252 pp.
Peterson, Roger Tory and Margaret McKenny. 1968. Wildflowers. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston. 420 pp.
Winterringer, Glen S. and Alvin C. Lopinot. 1977. Aquatic plants of Illinois. Illinois State Museum, Springfield. 142 pp.
Illinois Natural History Survey. ILPIN information on Sagittaria
latifolia [database on the Internet]. Champaign (IL): INHS; 2003
[accessed 12/1/03].
http://www.fs.fed.us/ne/delaware/ilpin/2613.co
Nearctica,
The Natural World of North America
http://www.nearctica.com/flowers/a/Slatif.htm
Wetlands
Program, Virginia Institute of Marine Science, William and Mary College
http://ccrm.vims.edu/wetlands/techreps/91-3-arrowhead.pdf
Ethnobotany,
Environmental Services, Washington State Department of Transportation
http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/environment/culres/ethbot/q-s/Sagittaria.htm
Terry
Spurgeon. "Wapato in Katzie Traditional Territory". Museum
of Archaeology and Ethnology, Simon Fraser University, British Columbia, Canada.
http://www2.sfu.ca/archaeology/museum/peb/wapato1.html
Encyclopedia.com
http://www.encyclopedia.com/html/a1/arrowhea.asp.