Native Plants
Plant Database
Search for native plants by scientific name, common name or family. If you are not sure what you are looking for, try the Combination Search or our Recommended Species lists.
Mathews, Ray
Sagittaria lancifolia
Sagittaria lancifolia L.
Lanceleaf Arrowhead, Duck-potato, Bulltongue Arrowhead
Alismataceae (Water-Plantain Family)
Synonym(s):
USDA Symbol: SALA
USDA Native Status: L48 (N), PR (N)
This perennial arises with basal leaves to 3 feet tall from tuber-producing rhizomes. The leaves have long petioles and arrowhead shaped leaf blades to 10 inches long. Submerged leaves are lance-shaped or even bladeless. The ½ to 1 inch wide 3 petaled white flowers appear in late spring and summer.
Members of the Water-Plantain Family grow in water, in swamps, on muddy banks, or occasionally in wet sand. Each plant has long-petioled leaves in a clump with a flowering stem rising among them. The flowers have 3 green sepals, 3 white or pink-tinged petals, 6 or more stamens, and several pistils. Stamens and pistils may be in separate flowers.
Plant Characteristics
Duration: PerennialHabit: Herb
Root Type: Fibrous
Leaf Complexity: Simple
Leaf Shape: Elliptic
Leaf Venation: Parallel
Leaf Pubescence: Glabrous
Leaf Apex: Acuminate
Leaf Base: Cuneate
Breeding System: Flowers Unisexual , Monoecious
Leaf: green
Flower: Sepals 3
Fruit: To 2.5 mm
Size Class: 1-3 ft.
Bloom Information
Bloom Color: WhiteBloom Time: Jun , Jul , Aug
Distribution
USA: AL , DE , FL , GA , LA , MD , MS , NC , OK , SC , TX , VANative Habitat: This is the most common arrowhead of eastern North America. It grows at low elevations in shallow water on the fringe of ponds, lakes, streams and wet ditches.
Growing Conditions
Water Use: HighLight Requirement: Sun
Soil Moisture: Wet
Aquatic: yes
Conditions Comments: Arrowheads are reliable perennials used for water gardens. In nature, they are emergent aquatic plants that grow on the margins of ponds and slow moving streams. They should be planted no deeper that 12 in a water garden in a full sun location.
Benefit
Use Food: Called Duck Potato or Wapato because of its edible egg-shaped rhizomes. Native Americans cleared ponds of competing plants to locate and harvest the tubers in fall. The tubers were stored and cooked as needed, providing an excellent source of carbohydrates.Conspicuous Flowers: yes
Interesting Foliage: yes
Deer Resistant: Minimal
Find Seed or Plants
View propagation protocol from Native Plants Network.
National Wetland Indicator Status
| Region: | AGCP | AK | AW | CB | EMP | GP | HI | MW | NCNE | WMVE |
| Status: | OBL | OBL | OBL | OBL |
From the National Organizations Directory
According to the species list provided by Affiliate Organizations, this plant is on display at the following locations:Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center - Austin, TX
Research Literature
Reslit 2246 - Germination of macrophytes from a Delaware River tidal freshwater wetland (1996) M. A. LeckReslit 2768 - The evolution and maintenance of monoecy and dioecy in Sagittaria latifolia (Alismataceae) (2002) M. E. Dorken, J. Friedman, S. C. H. Barrett
Reslit 2769 - Variation in germination and survival among families of Sagittaria latifolia in response to salinity and temperature (1994) V. A. Delesalle, S. Blum
Reslit 2770 - Sagittaria biomass partitioning relative to salinity, hydrologic regime, and substrate type: Implications for plant distribution patterns in Coastal Louisiana, United States (2005) S. B. Martin, G. P. Shaffer
Reslit 2771 - Phenotypic plasticity of vegetative and reproductive traits in monoecious and dioecious populations of Sagittaria latifolia (Alismataceae): a clonal aquatic plant (2004) M. E. Dorken, S. C. H. Barrett
Reslit 2772 - Modification of sex expression in Sagittaria latifolia by the application of gibberellic acid and paclobutrazol (2007) T. Tanimoto
Reslit 2773 - Propagation protocol for broadleaf arrowhead Sagittaria latifolia Willd. (Alismataceae) (2007) L. Hunter-Cario
Reslit 2774 - Pollinator responses to variation in floral display and flower size in dioecious Sagittaria latifolia (Alismataceae) (2008) M. Glaettli, S. C. H. Barrett
Reslit 2775 - Trade-offs between clonal and sexual reproduction in Sagittaria latifolia (Alismataceae) scale up to affect the fitness of entire clones (2012) W. E. Van Drunen, M. E. Dorken
Reslit 2776 - Sex determination and the evolution of dioecy from monoecy in Sagittaria latifolia (Alismataceae) (2004) M. E. Dorken, S. C. H. Barrett
This information was provided by the Florida WIldflower Foundation.
Search More Titles in Research Literature
From the Archive
Wildflower Newsletter 1991 VOL. 8, NO.3 - Native Plants Provide a Wealth of Foods and Fibers, Letter from the President, A...Wildflower Newsletter 1994 VOL. 11, NO.6 - Wildflower Center Featured Non-Profit in Neiman Marcus Christmas Book, Dana Leav...
Additional resources
USDA: Find Sagittaria lancifolia in USDA PlantsFNA: Find Sagittaria lancifolia in the Flora of North America (if available)
Google: Search Google for Sagittaria lancifolia
Metadata
Record Modified: 2015-02-11Research By: JSC