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Sagittaria latifolia

bird's-eye pearlwort, broad-leaf arrowhead, common arrowhead, duck-potato, Indian potato, sagittaire latifoliee, wapato

quillwort arrowhead

Habit Herbs, perennial, to 45 cm; rhizomes absent; stolons present; corms present. Herbs, perennial, to 65 cm; rhizomes absent; stolons present; corms present.
Leaves

emersed;

petiole triangular, erect to ascending, 6.5–51 cm;

blade sagittate, rarely hastate, 1.5–30.5 × 2–17 cm, basal lobes equal to or less than remainder of blade.

emersed or submersed, phyllodial or rarely dilated apically, flattened, 4–40 cm × 0.05–0.4(–0.5) cm.

Inflorescences

racemes, rarely panicles, of 3–9 whorls, emersed, 4.5–28.5 × 4–23 cm;

peduncles 10–59 cm;

bracts connate more than or equal to ¼ total length, elliptic to lanceolate, 3–8 mm, delicate, not papillose; fruiting pedicels spreading, cylindric, 0.5–3.5 cm.

racemes, of 1–5 whorls, emersed, 2–20 × 1.5–12 cm;

peduncles 7–59 cm;

bracts connate more than or equal to ¼ total length, oblanceolate, 0.2–0.3 mm, delicate, not papillose; fruiting pedicels spreading, cylindric, 0.5–6 cm.

Flowers

to 4 cm diam.;

sepals recurved to spreading, not enclosing flower or fruiting head;

filaments cylindric, longer than anthers, glabrous; pistillate pedicellate, without ring of sterile stamens.

to 1.3 cm diam.;

sepals recurved to spreading, not enclosing flower;

filaments dilated, shorter than anthers, minutely tomentose; pistillate pedicellate, without ring of sterile stamens.

Fruiting

heads 1–1.7 cm diam;

achenes oblanceoloid, without abaxial keel, 2.5–3.5 × to 2 mm, beaked;

faces not tuberculate, wings absent, glands (0–)1(–2);

beak lateral, horizontal, 1–2 mm.

heads 0.5–1 cm diam.;

achenes obovoid, abaxially keeled, 2.2–2.8 × 1.5–2 mm, beaked;

faces not tuberculate, wings 1–2, ± entire, glands 3–5;

beak lateral, incurved-erect, 0.2 mm.

2n

= 22.

Sagittaria latifolia

Sagittaria isoetiformis

Phenology Flowering summer–fall. Flowering summer–fall.
Habitat Wet ditches, pools, and margins of streams and lakes Shores of sandy-bottomed lakes, se coastal plain
Elevation 0–1500 m (0–4900 ft) 0–100 m (0–300 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AL; AR; CA; CO; CT; DC; DE; FL; GA; IA; IL; IN; KS; KY; LA; MA; MD; ME; MI; MN; MO; MS; NC; ND; NE; NH; NJ; NY; OH; OK; PA; RI; SC; SD; TN; TX; VA; VT; WI; WV; AB; BC; MB; NB; NS; ON; PE; QC; SK; c Mexico; s Mexico; Central America (Guatemala); South America (Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela)
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AL; FL; GA; NC; SC
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Sagittaria latifolia has been divided into numerous species and varieties. It was divided into two varieties, based upon the presence of pubescence over the entire vegetative plant (C. Bogin 1955; K. Rataj 1972). We have examined numerous specimens and found that many from the southeastern United States are pubescent; we believe that this character alone is insufficient for recognition of the varieties.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Sagittaria isoetiformis has often been misidentified as Sagittaria teres (E. O. Beal 1960b). The two species can be separated, however: S. teres has nearly terete phyllodia, whereas S. isoetiformis has flattened phyllodia (R. K. Godfrey and P. Adams 1964). A study of the genetics of the two species shows them to be genetically different, and the data indicate the two taxa actually should be considered at the specific level. The two species are capable of CAM photosynthesis, a process very uncommon in the genus and found among none of their supposedly closely related species (A. L. Edwards, pers. comm.).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Source FNA vol. 22. FNA vol. 22.
Parent taxa Alismataceae > Sagittaria Alismataceae > Sagittaria
Sibling taxa
S. ambigua, S. australis, S. brevirostra, S. cristata, S. cuneata, S. demersa, S. engelmanniana, S. fasciculata, S. filiformis, S. graminea, S. guayanensis, S. isoetiformis, S. kurziana, S. lancifolia, S. longiloba, S. montevidensis, S. papillosa, S. platyphylla, S. rigida, S. sanfordii, S. secundifolia, S. subulata, S. teres
S. ambigua, S. australis, S. brevirostra, S. cristata, S. cuneata, S. demersa, S. engelmanniana, S. fasciculata, S. filiformis, S. graminea, S. guayanensis, S. kurziana, S. lancifolia, S. latifolia, S. longiloba, S. montevidensis, S. papillosa, S. platyphylla, S. rigida, S. sanfordii, S. secundifolia, S. subulata, S. teres
Synonyms S. latifolia var. obtusa, S. latifolia var. pubescens, S. ornithorhyncha, S. planipes, S. pubescens, S. viscosa
Name authority Willdenow: Sp. Pl. 4(1): 409. (1805) J. G. Smith: Rep. (Annual) Missouri Bot. Gard. 6:115, plate 53. (1895)
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