Peltandra virginica

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Peltandra virginica
Peltandra virginica MA.jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Order: Alismatales
Family: Araceae
Genus: Peltandra
Species:
P. virginica
Binomial name
Peltandra virginica
Peltandra distribution.svg
Distribution of Peltandra virginica
Synonyms [2]
  • Arum virginicumL.
  • Calla virginica(L.) Michx.
  • Caladium virginicum(L.) Hook.
  • Lecontia virginica(L.) Torr.
  • Rensselaeria virginica(L.) L.C.Beck
  • Alocasia virginica(L.) Raf.
  • Peltandra undulataRaf.
  • Arum walteriElliott
  • Peltandra undulataSchott
  • Peltandra angustifoliaRaf.
  • Peltandra canadensisRaf.
  • Peltandra hastataRaf.
  • Peltandra walteri(Elliott) Raf.
  • Caladium undulatumSteud.
  • Peltandra tharpiiF.A.Barkley
  • Peltandra luteospadixFernald

Peltandra virginica is a plant of the arum family known as green arrow arum [3] and tuckahoe. [4] It is widely distributed in wetlands in the eastern United States, as well as in Quebec, Ontario, and Cuba. [2] [5] [6] It is common in central Florida including the Everglades [7] and along the Gulf Coast. [8] Its rhizomes are tolerant to low oxygen levels found in wetland soils. [9] It can be found elsewhere in North America as an introduced species and often an invasive plant.[ citation needed ]

Contents

P. virginica is a hydrophytic marshland aquatic plant pollinated by a chloropid fly through providing a brood site and releasing the pollen onto them. The primary dispersal mechanisms are via water and animals. [4] [10]

Description

This is an emergent perennial herb growing from a large rhizome and producing many large leaves. An individual leaf may have a petiole nearly a meter long and a blade half a meter in length. The leaves are quite variable in shape and size, but they are often generally arrowhead-shaped.

The inflorescence bears male and female flowers, as well as sterile flowers. The flower varies from whitish to greenish to yellow. The fruit is a brown berry containing a few seeds within a clear gelatinous pulp. Large number of seeds can accumulate in the soil of wetlands. [5] [11]

Peltandra virginica is a marshland aquatic plant, growing in North America bogs, ponds, and marshes. The roots and base grow into the submerged substrate, and the leaves and inflorescences project up and out of the water. The roots form a perennial rhizome. Various forms of leaf blades have been observed, both in larger ranges and smaller individual populations. Petioles range from green to green-purple to purple with a medium green blade petiole lengths between 38 and 98 centimeters and blade length being between 9 and 57 centimeters. Lateral veins also have variable thicknesses. Inflorescences are generally pale green to white, being lighter within the spathe. Lengths for the inflorescence range between 7 and 25 centimeters with the spadix being about half the size to the full length of the spathe with greenish to white flowers, producing fruits that rot within the closed spathe. Fruits are pea green to mottled green and purple and range from 6 to 16 millimeters. In most of its range, it blooms from spring to late summer and fall and in warmer regions, it will bloom into the winter. It generally thrives in low salinity environments. [12] [4]

Taxonomy

Arrow arum, Peltandra virginica, is a member of the arum family, Araceae, and is known by the names tuckahoe, green arrow arum, and peltandre. [4] [13] It was first identified as "tockowhough" by William Strachey, Secretary of the Colony of Virginia in 1611, in his book The Historie of Travaile Into Virginia Britannia . [14] He describes its starchy root as a primary food source of the Powhatan Indians which they gathered from the marshes of Virginia. It was originally described as Arum virginicum by Carl Linnaeus in 1753 and has also been placed in the genera Alocasia , Caladium , Calla , Lecontia , and Rensselaeria . [13] Other synonyms include Peltandra luteospadix and P. tharpii. [13]

In the eastern United States and Canada where Peltandra virginica resides, one other Peltandra species exists, P. sagittifolia. [15] P. virginica can be distinguished from the other extant taxon of Peltandra by the variation in leaf form, average greater size in non-reproductive structures, and the difference in color of the fruit. The fruit of P. sagittifolia is red with a white spathe, and the fruit of P. virginica are green to purple with a green to yellow green spathe. [4]

Distribution and habitat

Peltandra virginica is a native to North America; its range spans the entire eastern coast of the United States and goes as far west as Texas. It is also naturalized in areas of California up to Oregon and is present in eastern regions of Canada. [16] [3] It mostly inhabits the wetlands and swamps, including marshes and bogs. [16] [3]

Conservation

Based on the Red List of Threatened Species 2016, P. virginica is a taxon of Least Concern, this is because of its broad range in eastern and central North America. [10] In some areas within the range of P. virginica the populations are diminishing. [10] It has also been found in California. [13] While common in most of its range, P. virginica is listed as Endangered in Iowa. [3]

Pollination biology

In the pistillate stage the spadix of P. virginica is entirely covered by the spathe, not allowing insects to pollinate female flowers. [12] Pollination is achieved by the plant's utilizing brood-site-based pollination. The chloropid fly Elachiptera formosa forms a symbiotic relationship with the inflorescence. [12] [4] The flies are attracted to the odor of the male flowers in an inflorescence's staminate stage where they feed on pollen and mate then find oviposition sites, followed by the development of the larvae and maturity of the flies. [12]

Ethnobotany

The plant contains calcium oxalate crystals, making it unpalatable. Indigenous peoples of the Americas used most parts of the plant for food, however, cooking it for hours first to make it safe to eat. [4] [17]

Historical accounts suggest that Native Americans may have used Peltandra virginica as a food source. They may have eaten the seeds and fruits as well as the leaves and roots. The section of P. virginica's range where its populations are highest, from Pennsylvania to coastal Virginia, are where it was most likely used for food. [4] In other times and places, it has been used as an ornamental plant and to stabilize sediments in small bodies of water. [18]

Wildlife

Peltandra virginica is considered a low percentage of various animals' food sources. Peltandra virginica makes up 5–10% of the diet of small mammals that reside within its range and 10–25% of the diet of water birds that share its range. [3]

Toxicity

The non-reproductive structures of Peltandra virginica are known to contain calcium oxalate crystals, that can irritate the gastrointestinal system of animals and people and has been linked to the development of kidney stones. [18] [19]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Araceae</span> Family of flowering plants

The Araceae are a family of monocotyledonous flowering plants in which flowers are borne on a type of inflorescence called a spadix. The spadix is usually accompanied by, and sometimes partially enclosed in, a spathe. Also known as the arum family, members are often colloquially known as aroids. This family of 140 genera and about 4,075 known species is most diverse in the New World tropics, although also distributed in the Old World tropics and northern temperate regions.

<i>Amorphophallus</i> Genus of flowering plants

Amorphophallus is a large genus of some 200 tropical and subtropical tuberous herbaceous plants from the Arum family (Araceae), native to Asia, Africa, Australia and various oceanic islands. A few species are edible as "famine foods" after careful preparation to remove irritating chemicals. The genus includes the Titan arum of Indonesia, which has the largest inflorescence of any plant in the genus, and is also known as the 'corpse flower' for the pungent odour it produces during its flowering period, which can take up through seven years of growth before it occurs.

<i>Philodendron</i> Genus of flowering plants

Philodendron is a large genus of flowering plants in the family Araceae. As of September 2015, the World Checklist of Selected Plant Families accepted 489 species; other sources accept different numbers. Regardless of number of species, the genus is the second-largest member of the family Araceae, after genus Anthurium. Taxonomically, the genus Philodendron is still poorly known, with many undescribed species. Many are grown as ornamental and indoor plants. The name derives from the Greek words philo- 'love, affection' and dendron 'tree'. The generic name, Philodendron, is often used as the English name.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bract</span> Modified or specialized leaf

In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, especially one associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis or cone scale. Bracts are usually different from foliage leaves. They may be smaller, larger, or of a different color, shape, or texture. Typically, they also look different from the parts of the flower, such as the petals or sepals. A plant having bracts is referred to as bracteate or bracteolate, while one that lacks them is referred to as ebracteate and ebracteolate, without bracts.

<i>Symplocarpus foetidus</i> Species of flowering plant

Symplocarpus foetidus, commonly known as skunk cabbage or eastern skunk cabbage, is a low-growing plant that grows in wetlands and moist hill slopes of eastern North America. Bruised leaves present an odor reminiscent of skunk.

<i>Arum maculatum</i> Species of flowering plant

Arum maculatum is a woodland flowering plant species in the family Araceae. It is native across most of Europe, as well as Eastern Turkey and the Caucasus.

<i>Zantedeschia</i> Genus of flowering plants in the arum family Araceae

Zantedeschia is a genus of eight species of herbaceous, perennial, flowering plants in the aroid family, Araceae, native to southern Africa. The genus has been introduced, in some form, on every continent.

<i>Zantedeschia aethiopica</i> Species of flowering plant

Zantedeschia aethiopica, commonly known as calla lily and arum lily, is a species of flowering plant in the family Araceae, native to southern Africa in Lesotho, South Africa, and Eswatini.

<i>Peltandra</i> Genus of flowering plants

Peltandra, the arrow arums, is a genus of plants in the family Araceae. It is native to the eastern United States, eastern Canada, and Cuba.

  1. Peltandra sagittifolia - (Michx.) Morong - Spoon flower or the white arrow arum - southeastern US from eastern Louisiana to Virginia
  2. Peltandra virginica(L.) Schott - Arum arrow - Cuba, Quebec, Ontario, Oregon, California, Washington; eastern US from Maine to Florida, west to Texas, Kansas, and Minnesota
  3. †Peltandra primaeva – Eocene, Golden Valley Formation, North Dakota, USA
<i>Arisaema triphyllum</i> Species of flowering plant

Arisaema triphyllum, the Jack-in-the-pulpit, is a species of flowering plant in the arum family Araceae. It is a member of the Arisaema triphyllum complex, a group of four or five closely related taxa in eastern North America. The specific name triphyllum means "three-leaved", a characteristic feature of the species, which is also referred to as Indian turnip, bog onion, and brown dragon.

<i>Arum</i> Genus of flowering plants in the family Araceae

Arum is a genus of flowering plants in the family Araceae, native to Europe, northern Africa, and western and central Asia, with the highest species diversity in the Mediterranean region. Frequently called arum lilies, they are not closely related to the true lilies Lilium. Plants in closely related Zantedeschia are also called "arum lilies".

<i>Dracunculus vulgaris</i> Species of flowering plant in the family Araceae

Dracunculus vulgaris is a species of aroid flowering plant in the genus Dracunculus and the arum family Araceae. Common names include the common dracunculus, dragon lily, dragon arum, black arum and vampire lily. In Greece, part of its native range, the plant is called drakondia, the long spadix being viewed as a small dragon hiding in the spathe.

<i>Nymphoides peltata</i> Species of aquatic plant

Nymphoides peltata is perennial, rooted aquatic plant with floating leaves of the family Menyanthaceae.

<i>Pontederia cordata</i> Species of aquatic plant

Pontederia cordata, common name pickerelweed (USA) or pickerel weed (UK), is a monocotyledonous aquatic plant native to the American continents. It grows in a variety of wetlands, including pond and lake margins across an extremely large range from eastern Canada south to Argentina. A few examples include northern rivers, the Everglades and Louisiana.

<i>Amorphophallus titanum</i> Species of flowering plant in the arum family Araceae

Amorphophallus titanum, the titan arum, is a flowering plant in the family Araceae. It has the largest unbranched inflorescence in the world. The inflorescence of the talipot palm, Corypha umbraculifera, is larger, but it is branched rather than unbranched. A. titanum is endemic to rainforests on the Indonesian island of Sumatra.

<i>Anubias gigantea</i> Species of aquatic plant

Anubias gigantea is an aquatic to riparian aroid species belonging to the genus Anubias, within the Araceae. It was first mentioned by Auguste Chevalier in 1920, based on material that he had collected in Guinea, West Africa. The formal description followed in 1939 by John Hutchinson. It is closely related to A. afzelii, basically only differing from that species by the form of the leaf-blade, with mature growth appearing somewhat different than the juvenile plants.

<i>Alocasia cucullata</i> Species of flowering plant

Alocasia cucullata is a species of flowering plant in the arum family known by the common names Chinese taro, Chinese ape, Buddha's hand, and hooded dwarf elephant ear. It is kept as an ornamental plant.

<i>Iris hexagona</i> Species of flowering plant

Iris hexagona, commonly known as the Dixie iris, is a species in the genus Iris, it is also in the subgenus Limniris and in the series hexagonae. It is a rhizomatous perennial with long bright green leaves, long thin stem and has small groups of flowers in shades of blue, from violet, to bluish purple, to lavender. It flowers in springtime and is native to the southeastern and south-central US states.

<i>Arum dioscoridis</i> Species of flowering plant

Arum dioscoridis, commonly known as the Spotted arum, is a plant of the arum family (Araceae).

<i>Arum orientale</i> Species of plant

Arum orientale is a woodland plant species of the family Araceae. It is found in southeastern Europe as far west as Vienna and in Turkey. Its primary range is Romania, Bulgaria, and southern Ukraine.

References

  1. ↑ Smith, K. (2016). "Peltandra virginica". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2016: e.T64319363A67730317. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-1.RLTS.T64319363A67730317.en . Retrieved 20 November 2021.
  2. 1 2 Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 "Plants Profile for Peltandra virginica (green arrow arum)". plants.usda.gov. Retrieved 2018-10-30.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Peltandra virginica in Flora of North America @ efloras.org". www.efloras.org. Retrieved 2018-11-28.
  5. 1 2 Whigham, Dennis F., Robert L. Simpson and Mary A. Leck. 1979. The Distribution of Seeds, Seedlings, and Established Plants of Arrow Arum (Peltandra virginica (L.) Kunth) in a Freshwater Tidal Wetland Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club 106: 193-199
  6. ↑ Acevedo-Rodríguez, P. & Strong, M.T. (2012). Catalogue of seed plants of the West Indies. Smithsonian Contributions to Botany 98: 1-1192.
  7. ↑ Loveless, C. M. 1959. A study of the vegetation in the Florida everglades. Ecology 40: 1–9.
  8. ↑ Keddy, P. A., Campbell, D., McFalls T., Shaffer, G., Moreau, R., Dranguet, C., and Heleniak, R. (2007). The wetlands of lakes Pontchartrain and Maurepas: past, present and future. Environmental Reviews 15: 1–35.
  9. ↑ Laing, H. E. (1940). Respiration of the rhizomes of Nuphar advenum and other water plants. American Journal of Botany 27: 574–81.
  10. 1 2 3 "The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . Retrieved 2018-11-28.
  11. ↑ Leck, M. A. and Graveline, K. J. (1979). The seed bank of a freshwater tidal marsh. American Journal of Botany 66: 1006–15.
  12. 1 2 3 4 Patt, Joseph M.; French, James C.; Schal, Coby; Lech, Joseph; Hartman, Thomas G. (October 1995). "The pollination biology of tuckahoe, Peltandra virginica (Araceae)". American Journal of Botany. 82 (10): 1230–1240. doi:10.1002/j.1537-2197.1995.tb12656.x. ISSN   0002-9122.
  13. 1 2 3 4 "!Peltandra virginica (L.) Raf. ex Schott & Endl". www.tropicos.org. Retrieved 2018-11-28.
  14. ↑ The Historie of Travaile Into Virginia Britannia, W. Strachey,https://archive.org/details/historietravail00majogoog/page/n187/mode/1up?q=tockowhough&view=theater
  15. ↑ "Search results — The Plant List". theplantlist.org. Retrieved 2018-11-28.
  16. 1 2 "Peltandra virginica - Plant Finder". www.missouribotanicalgarden.org. Retrieved 2018-10-30.
  17. ↑ Plant of the Week
  18. 1 2 Moore, Kimberly. "Native Aquatic and Wetland Plants: Arrow Arum, Peltandra virginica" (PDF). University of Florida: IFAS Extension.
  19. ↑ "Calcium Oxalate Stones". National Kidney Foundation. 2016-05-16. Retrieved 2018-11-28.
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