Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Monocots: Alismatales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/14/23):
Sagittaria latifolia +
FAMILY
Alismataceae
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
This is the "standard" arrowhead, the one that nearly everyone has seen. It has several leaves, each with a long stalk to over 1' long; this stalk (petiole) is triangular in cross-section (vs. S. australis's sharply 5-sided leaf stalks). Learn more at Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
INCLUDED WITHIN
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Sagittaria latifolia
FAMILY
Alismataceae
INCLUDED WITHIN Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Sagittaria latifolia
INCLUDED WITHIN Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 22 (2000)
Sagittaria latifolia
INCLUDED WITHIN Floristic Synthesis of North America (Kartesz, 1999)
Sagittaria latifolia
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 027-03-009:
Sagittaria latifolia + FAMILY Alismataceae
COMMON NAME:
Broadleaf Arrowhead, Duck Potato, Common Arrowhead
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
)
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913 pnd_sala2_001_lvd
)
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913 pnd_sapu10_001_lvd
)
USDA / Selected Weeds of the US. 1970 swus_page_027
)
JK Marlow s070428_ab
April Greenville County SC
Creekside/Riverside
Leaves palmately veined; leaf bases with long pointed lobes , per Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998).
COMPARE
Arrowhead, Arum, Elephant's Ear and Pickerelweed
)
JK Marlow jkm060617_001
June Greenville County SC
Creekside/Riverside
The leaves vary from broadly to very narrowly arrow-shaped, per Newcomb's Wildflower Guide (Newcomb, 1977).
)
JK Marlow jkm080611_032
June Greenville County SC
Lake Conestee Nature Park
)
JK Marlow jkm080611_037
June Greenville County SC
Lake Conestee Nature Park
)
JK Marlow jkm060702_003
July Greenville County SC
Creekside/Riverside
)
Bobbie L Holt blh1294_a
August Anderson County SC
Carolina Wild Native Plant Nursery
)
JK Marlow jkm060826_023
August Greenville County SC
Creekside/Riverside
)
JK Marlow jkm060826_025
August Greenville County SC
Creekside/Riverside
Spreads vegetatively, w single large individuals having more than 100 shoots, per Wildflowers & Plant Communities of the Southern Appalachian Mountains and Piedmont (Spira, 2011).
)
JK Marlow jkm130823_517
August Greenville County SC
Swamp Rabbit Trail
Slender, ascending pedicels 1" or more long, longer than subtending bracts, per Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005).
)
JK Marlow jkm130823_525
August Greenville County SC
Swamp Rabbit Trail
Showy white flowers with 3 petals, the lower flowers usually female, per Wildflowers & Plant Communities of the Southern Appalachian Mountains and Piedmont (Spira, 2011).
COMPARE
aquatic plants
)
JK Marlow jkm130913_274
September Greenville County SC
Swamp Rabbit Trail
Fruit a beaked achene clustered in heads, per Wildflowers & Plant Communities of the Southern Appalachian Mountains and Piedmont (Spira, 2011).
)
JK Marlow jkm130913_275
September Greenville County SC
Swamp Rabbit Trail
)
JK Marlow jkm130913_280
September Greenville County SC
Swamp Rabbit Trail
Leaf blades of S. latifolia var. pubescens are rather densely fine-pubescent, per Weakley's Flora (2023).
)
Steve Marlow snm090912_1975
September Greenville County SC
Swamp Rabbit Trail
Flowers in whorls of 3 flowers each on erect scapes, per Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005).
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/14/23):
Sagittaria latifolia +
FAMILY
Alismataceae
INCLUDED WITHIN
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Sagittaria latifolia
FAMILY
Alismataceae
INCLUDED WITHIN
Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Sagittaria latifolia
INCLUDED WITHIN
Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 22
Sagittaria latifolia
INCLUDED WITHIN
Floristic Synthesis of North America (Kartesz, 1999)
Sagittaria latifolia
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 027-03-009:
Sagittaria latifolia +
FAMILY
Alismataceae
1294
Emergent aquatic (rooted); Forb
Perennial
Monoecious or polygamo-monoecious
Look for it in bogs, marshes, and - in the case of var. latifolia - swamps, farm ponds, ditches, per Weakley's Flora
Native to the Carolinas & Georgia
Common (var. pubescens is uncommon in GA Piedmont & NC Coastal Plain and rare in Coastal Plain of GA & SC)
LEAVES:
Simple
Basal
Leaf blade sagittate, rarely hastate
Petioles 6.5–51cm long, triangular, erect to ascending
RHIZOMES? STOLONS?
Rhizomes absent; stolons present; corms present
FLOWER:
Summer/Fall
White
3-merous
3 sepals
3 petals
Numerous stamens in staminate flowers
Superior ovary
Unisexual
FRUIT:
Summer/Fall
Achene
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- Field Guide to Aquatic Plants of Alabama (Lovell, 2007) p33
- Gardening with the Native Plants of Tennessee (Hunter, 2002) p166
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 2nd ed. (McMillan, Porcher, Rayner, & White; 2022) p474
- Newcomb's Wildflower Guide (Newcomb, 1977) p118
- Wildflowers of the Atlantic Southeast (Cotterman, Waitt, & Weakley, 2019) p098
- Wildflowers of the Eastern United States (Duncan & Duncan, 1999) p138
- Wild Flowers of NC, 2nd edition (Justice, Bell, & Lindsey, 2005) p004
- Field Guide to the Wildflowers of Georgia (Chafin, 2016) p360
- Wildflowers of Tennessee (Carman, 2005) p336
- Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005) p388
- Wildflowers & Plant Communities of the Southern Appalachian Mountains and Piedmont (Spira, 2011) p434
- Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998) p002
- Wildflowers of the Sandhills Region (Sorrie, 2011) p276
If a search such as "Carex leptalea var. leptalea" doesn't deliver the results you want, try "Carex leptalea".
Or, to minimize chances of a misspelling, try just "Carex le".
Less is more: If "pencil flower" doesn't deliver the results you want, try "pencil".