Sagittaria is a genus of about 30 species of aquatic plants whose members are referred to by the Chinook Jargon word wapato () and a variety of other common names, including arrowhead, duck potato, swamp potato, tule potato, and katniss. Most are native to South, Central, and North America, but there are also some from Europe, Africa, and Asia.
Description Sagittaria plant stock (the perennial rhizome) is a horizontal creeper (stoloniferous). The leaf grows up to .3–.9 metres (1–3 ft) tall, with a shape resembling an arrowhead. Between July and September, a single stalk bears groups of three white flowers with three petals each. It is obliquely obovate, the margins winged, with an 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.
Taxonomy
Species As of December 2023 accepted species include:
Sagittaria aginashii Makino – Japan, Korea, Primorye Sagittaria ambigua J.G.Sm. – Missouri Arrowhead – from Oklahoma to Indiana Sagittaria australis (J.G.Sm.) Small – Appalachian Arrowhead – southeastern US from Louisiana to Florida and as far north as Iowa and New Jersey Sagittaria brevirostra Mack. & Bush – Shortbeak Arrowhead – central US (Great Plains, Mississippi and Ohio Valleys, Great Lakes); also Virginia and Saskatchewan; naturalized in California Sagittaria calycina Engelm. – Central & S. U.S.A. to N. Mexico. Sagittaria chapmanii (J.G.Sm.) C.Mohr – from Texas to the Carolinas Sagittaria cristata Engelm – Crested arrowhead – Great Lakes region Sagittaria cuneata E.P.Sheld. – Wapato, Northern Arrowhead, Swamp Potato – most of Canada including Yukon and Northwest Territories; Alaska; western and northeastern US Sagittaria demersa J.G.Sm. – Chihuahuan arrowhead – New Mexico, northeastern Mexico Sagittaria engelmanniana J.G.Sm. – Engelmann's arrowhead – eastern US from Mississippi to Vermont Sagittaria fasciculata E.O.Beal – Bunched Arrowhead – North and South Carolina Sagittaria filiformis J.G.Sm. – Threadleaf Arrowhead – eastern US from Alabama to Maine Sagittaria graminea Michx. – Grassy Arrowhead, Grass-leaved Arrowhead – Cuba; much of eastern and central US; eastern Canada; naturalized in Washington State and in Vietnam Sagittaria guayanensis Kunth – Guyanese Arrowhead – widespread across Latin America, the West Indies, China, India, Southeast Asia; introduced into Louisiana Sagittaria intermedia Micheli in A.L.P.P.de Candolle & A.C.P.de Candolle – Greater Antilles, Colombia, southern Mexico Sagittaria isoetiformis J.G.Sm. – Quillwort Arrowhead – Cuba, from Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Carolinas Sagittaria kurziana Glück – Springtape or Strap-leaf Sagittaria – Florida; naturalized in Mariana Islands Sagittaria lancifolia L. – Bulltongue Arrowhead – southeastern US from Texas to Delaware; West Indies; Latin America from southern Mexico to Brazil Sagittaria latifolia Willd. – Duck-potato, Broad-leaved Arrowhead, Wapato – widespread across most of North America, the West Indies and northern South America; naturalized in Hawaii, the western Himalayas and parts of Europe Sagittaria lichuanensis J.K.Chen, X.Z.Sun & H.Q.Wang – southern China Sagittaria longiloba Engelm. ex J.G. Sm. – Longbarb Arrowhead – southern Great Plains, Arizona, New Mexico, California, Mexico, Nicaragua, Venezuela Sagittaria × lunata C.D.Preston & Uotila – Sweden, Finland, northern Russia (S. natans × S. sagittifolia) Sagittaria macrocarpa J.G.Sm. – Large-fruited Arrowhead – North and South Carolina Sagittaria macrophylla Zucc. – Papa de agua – Mexico Sagittaria montevidensis Cham. & Schltdl. – California Arrowhead – widespread across much of US, Mexico and South America Sagittaria natans Pall. – widespread across northern Europe and Asia from Sweden to Kamchatka; Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Japan, Korea Sagittaria papillosa Buchenau – Nipplebract Arrowhead – Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas, Oklahoma Sagittaria planitiana G.Agostini – Brazil, Venezuela Sagittaria platyphylla (Engelm.) J.G.Sm. – Delta Arrowhead, Delta Duck-potato – south-central US with scattered populations in southeast, the Ohio Valley and Washington State; also Mexico and Panama; naturalized in South Australia, Italy, Java, Caucasus Sagittaria potamogetifolia Merr. – southern China Sagittaria pygmaea Miq. – Pygmy arrowhead – China, Japan, Korea, Himalayas, Thailand, Vietnam Sagittaria rhombifolia Cham. – Costa Rica; widespread across much of South America Sagittaria rigida Pursh. – Canadian Arrowhead – Canada from Quebec to Saskatchewan; common in northeastern and north-central US from Arkansas and Nebraska east to Virginia and New England; scattered populations in California, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington State; naturalised in Great Britain Sagittaria sagittifolia L. – Arrowhead – widespread across most of Europe; Siberia, Caucasus, Turkey Sagittaria sanfordii Greene – Valley Arrowhead – endemic to California Sagittaria secundifolia Kral – Little River Arrowhead – Georgia and Alabama Sagittaria siamaginashi Shiga & K.Itoh – Myanmar to Thailand Sagittaria spatulata (J.G.Sm.) Buchenau - New Brunswick to Maryland. Sagittaria sprucei Micheli in A.L.P.P.de Candolle & A.C.P.de Candolle – Colombia, Peru, Venezuela, northern Brazil Sagittaria subulata L. Buchenau – Narrow-leaved Arrowhead – eastern US from Louisiana to Massachusetts; naturalized in Great Britain, Azores and Java Sagittaria tengtsungensis H.Li – Tibet, Nepal, Bhutan, Yunnan Sagittaria teres S.Watson – Slender Arrowhead – northeastern US Sagittaria trifolia L. – Threeleaf Arrowhead – widespread across much of Asia including Siberia, China, Japan, India, Iran, Indonesia, Philippines, etc.; also Ukraine and European Russia; naturalized in Fiji and Polynesia Sagittaria weatherbiana Fernald –Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia
Deprecated Echinodorus palaefolius (Nees & Mart.) J.F.Macbr. (as S. palaefolia Nees & Mart.) Limnophyton obtusifolium (L.) Miq. (as S. obtusifolia L.) Wiesneria triandra (Dalzell) Micheli (as S. triandra Dalzell)
Etymology The genus comes from the Latin word sagittārius, meaning 'pertaining to arrows', owing to the leaf shape of many species.
Uses
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