- Arrow-shaped leaves of S. sagittifolia
- S. latifolia flowers
- S. trifolia bulbs
Sagittaria | |
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S. sagittifolia 1885 illustration [1] | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Monocots |
Order: | Alismatales |
Family: | Alismataceae |
Genus: | Sagittaria L. |
Type species | |
Sagittaria sagittifolia | |
Synonyms [2] | |
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Sagittaria is a genus of about 30 [3] species of aquatic plants whose members go by a variety of common names, including arrowhead, duck potato, swamp potato, tule potato, and wapato. Most are native to South, Central, and North America, but there are also some from Europe, Africa, and Asia. [3] [2]
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.[ clarification needed ]
Other names are Pshitola (Dakota), Si" (Omaha-Ponca), Si-poro (Winnebago) and Kirit (Pawnee), “cricket ” (from the likeness of the tuber to the form of a cricket) ; known also as kits-hat, “ standing in water,” the tuber being termed kirit. [4]
By all these tribes the tubers were used for food, prepared by boiling or roasting. The Pawnee may have some other use for the plant. [4]
In the Omaha myth, “Ishtinike and the Four Creators,” Sagittaria is mentioned, also in the myth “ How the Big Turtle Went to War.” [4]
Peter Kalm, in 1749, mentions Sagittaria as a food plant among the Algonquian Indians: [4]
Katniss is another Indian name of a plant, the root of which they were likewise accustomed to eat,... It grows in low, muddy, and very wet ground. The root is oblong, commonly an inch and a half long, and one inch and a quarter broad in the middle; but some of the roots have been as big as a man’s fists. The Indians either boiled this root or roasted it in hot ashes. ... Their katniss is an arrow-head or Sagittaria, and is only a variety of the Swedish arrow-head or Sagittariasagittifolia, for the plant above the ground is entirely the same, but the root under ground is much greater in the American than in the European. [4]
As of December 2023 [update] accepted species include: [2] [5] [6]
The genus comes from the Latin word sagittārius, meaning 'pertaining to arrows', [7] owing to the leaf shape of many species.
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. [8] They can be harvested by hand or by treading the mud in late fall or early spring, causing light root tubers to float to the surface. The plants are easy to propagate by replanting the roots.
Tubers are a type of enlarged structure used as storage organs for nutrients in some plants, usually stems, but some definitions refer to roots. Tubers help plants perennate, provide energy and nutrients, and are a means of asexual reproduction.
Juncus is a genus of monocotyledonous flowering plants, commonly known as rushes. It is the largest genus in the family Juncaceae, containing around 300 species.
Kuwai is a Japanese plant whose underground stem (rhizome) is edible. It is a cultivar of Sagittaria trifolia. It has different common names in different regions of Japan. The underground stems of this neighboring species are also eaten in China.
Sagittaria latifolia is a plant found in shallow wetlands and is sometimes known as broadleaf arrowhead, duck-potato, Indian potato, or wapato. This plant produces edible tubers that have traditionally been extensively used by Native Americans.
Sagittaria sagittifolia is an Old World flowering plant in the family Alismataceae.
Echinodorus, commonly known as burhead or Amazon sword, is a genus of plants in the family Alismataceae, native to the Western Hemisphere from the central United States to Argentina. Its scientific name is derived from Ancient Greek echius – "rough husk" - and doros – "leathern bottle" - alluding to ovaries, which in some species are armed with persistent styles, forming prickly head of fruit. Some of the species are commonly cultivated in artificial aquatic habitats.
Sagittaria fasciculata, the bunched arrowhead is a plant found in a small number of wetlands in the Southeast United States.
Sagittaria montevidensis is a species of flowering plant in the water-plantain family Alismataceae. Common names include giant arrowhead and California arrowhead.
Sagittaria lancifolia, the bulltongue arrowhead, is a New World perennial, monocot plant in the family Alismataceae, genus Sagittaria, with herbaceous growth patterns.
Sagittaria cuneata is a North American 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.
Sagittaria longiloba is a North American species of flowering plant in the water plantain family known by the common name longbarb arrowhead and Gregg arrowhead.
Sagittaria australis, the Appalachian arrowhead or longbeak arrowhead, is a plant found in North America. It is a perennial herb up to 130 centimetres tall. It is an unusual Sagittaria species in that it has a 5-winged petiole. The flowers are up to 3 cm (1 in) in diameter, white, producing an achene with a recurved beak.
Sagittaria platyphylla, the delta arrowhead, broad-leaf arrowhead or delta duck-potato, is a plant species native to the eastern United States.
Sagittaria trifolia, the threeleaf arrowhead or Chinese arrowhead, is a plant species widespread across the wet areas in Europe and in much of Asia.
Sagittaria isoetiformis, common name quillwort arrowhead, is an aquatic plant species. It is similar to Sagittaria tenuis and often mistaken for it, but S. isoetiformis has flattened leaves rather than leaves round in cross-section. Leaves of both species are usually submerged but sometimes emerging from the water.
Sagittaria rigida, the sessilefruit arrowhead or Canadian arrowhead, is an aquatic plant species. It has narrow oval leaves rather than the iconic arrowhead shaped leaves of species like the Sagittaria latifolia. it has sessile female flowers, from whence its name comes. Its flowers are very similar to other plants in the Sagittaria family, with three white petals.
Sagittaria cristata, the crested arrowhead, is a perennial herb growing up to 75 centimetres tall. The leaves are flat, long and narrow, not lobed, and up to 40 cm (16 in) long. The flowers are white.
Sagittaria graminea, the grassy arrowhead or grass-leaved arrowhead, is an aquatic plant species native to eastern North America.
Sagittaria subulata, the awl-leaf arrowhead, narrow-leaved arrowhead or dwarf sagittaria, is an aquatic plant species.