Sagittaria latifolia Willd.

Broadleaf Arrowhead; Duck Potato; Wapato

Herb

Perennial

Vascular

Broadleaf Arrowhead is a native herbaceous perennial in the Water-Plantain family (Alismataceae). It can be found throughout Alabama. Broadleaf Arrowhead occurs along the margins of ponds and lakes, on the banks of rivers and streams, and in wet roadside ditches. It is a perennial from a corm. The roots ae thick and wide-spreading, often producing small tubers. The plant forms colonies from stolons. The leaves for a rosette. Leaves are petiolate, erect, sagittate, with basal lobes equal to or shorter than the remainder of the leaf. They may be glabrous or pubescent. Flowers are produced in 3-7 whorls on racemes. Most plants are monoecious with staminate flowers located above the pistillate flowers on the raceme. Each flower has 3 white petals and numerous pistals or stamens. The filaments of the anthers are glabrous. The fruit is an achene with a horizontal beak. The fruiting pedicels are spreading to ascending, not recurved. The tubers of Broadleaf Arrowhead are edible raw or cooked. They have a taste similar to white potatoes.—A. Diamond

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Native OBL (NWPL) G5 (Global Rank)

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