Sagittaria
Sagittaria is a genus of about 30 species of aquatic plants whose members are referred to by the Native American 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 is a horizontal creeper. The leaf grows up to 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 for sprouting, set above or below the fruit body.Taxonomy
Species
accepted species include:Sagittaria aginashii Makino – Japan, Korea, PrimoryeSagittaria ambigua J.G.Sm. – Missouri Arrowhead – from Oklahoma to IndianaSagittaria australis Small – Appalachian Arrowhead – southeastern US from Louisiana to Florida and as far north as Iowa and New JerseySagittaria brevirostra Mack. & Bush – Shortbeak Arrowhead – central US ; also Virginia and Saskatchewan; naturalized in CaliforniaSagittaria calycina Engelm. – Central & S. U.S.A. to N. Mexico.Sagittaria chapmanii C.Mohr – from Texas to the CarolinasSagittaria cristata Engelm – Crested arrowhead – Great Lakes regionSagittaria cuneata E.P.Sheld. – Wapato, Northern Arrowhead, Swamp Potato – most of Canada including Yukon and Northwest Territories; Alaska; western and northeastern USSagittaria demersa J.G.Sm. – Chihuahuan arrowhead – New Mexico, northeastern MexicoSagittaria engelmanniana J.G.Sm. – Engelmann's arrowhead – eastern US from Mississippi to VermontSagittaria fasciculata E.O.Beal – Bunched Arrowhead – North and South CarolinaSagittaria filiformis J.G.Sm. – Threadleaf Arrowhead – eastern US from Alabama to MaineSagittaria graminea Michx. – Grassy Arrowhead, Grass-leaved Arrowhead – Cuba; much of eastern and central US; eastern Canada; naturalized in Washington State and in VietnamSagittaria guayanensis Kunth – Guyanese Arrowhead – widespread across Latin America, the West Indies, China, India, Southeast Asia; introduced into LouisianaSagittaria intermedia Micheli in A.L.P.P.de Candolle & A.C.P.de Candolle – Greater Antilles, Colombia, southern MexicoSagittaria isoetiformis J.G.Sm. – Quillwort Arrowhead – Cuba, from Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, CarolinasSagittaria kurziana Glück – Springtape or Strap-leaf Sagittaria – Florida; naturalized in Mariana IslandsSagittaria lancifolia L. – Bulltongue Arrowhead – southeastern US from Texas to Delaware; West Indies; Latin America from southern Mexico to BrazilSagittaria 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 EuropeSagittaria lichuanensis J.K.Chen, X.Z.Sun & H.Q.Wang – southern ChinaSagittaria longiloba Engelm. ex J.G. Sm. – Longbarb Arrowhead – southern Great Plains, Arizona, New Mexico, California, Mexico, Nicaragua, VenezuelaSagittaria × lunata C.D.Preston & Uotila – Sweden, Finland, northern Russia Sagittaria macrocarpa J.G.Sm. – Large-fruited Arrowhead – North and South CarolinaSagittaria macrophylla Zucc. – Papa de agua – MexicoSagittaria montevidensis Cham. & Schltdl. – California Arrowhead – widespread across much of US, Mexico and South AmericaSagittaria natans Pall. – widespread across northern Europe and Asia from Sweden to Kamchatka; Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Japan, KoreaSagittaria papillosa Buchenau – Nipplebract Arrowhead – Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas, OklahomaSagittaria planitiana G.Agostini – Brazil, VenezuelaSagittaria platyphylla 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, CaucasusSagittaria potamogetifolia Merr. – southern ChinaSagittaria pygmaea Miq. – Pygmy arrowhead – China, Japan, Korea, Himalayas, Thailand, VietnamSagittaria rhombifolia Cham. – Costa Rica; widespread across much of South AmericaSagittaria 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 BritainSagittaria sagittifolia L. – Arrowhead – widespread across most of Europe; Siberia, Caucasus, TurkeySagittaria sanfordii Greene – Valley Arrowhead – endemic to CaliforniaSagittaria secundifolia Kral – Little River Arrowhead – Georgia and AlabamaSagittaria siamaginashi Shiga & K.Itoh – Myanmar to ThailandSagittaria spatulata Buchenau - New Brunswick to Maryland.Sagittaria sprucei Micheli in A.L.P.P.de Candolle & A.C.P.de Candolle – Colombia, Peru, Venezuela, northern BrazilSagittaria subulata L. Buchenau – Narrow-leaved Arrowhead – eastern US from Louisiana to Massachusetts; naturalized in Great Britain, Azores and JavaSagittaria tengtsungensis H.Li – Tibet, Nepal, Bhutan, YunnanSagittaria teres S.Watson – Slender Arrowhead – northeastern USSagittaria 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 PolynesiaSagittaria weatherbiana Fernald –Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, VirginiaDeprecated
Echinodorus palaefolius J.F.Macbr. Limnophyton obtusifolium Miq. Wiesneria triandra MicheliEtymology
The genus comes from the Latin word sagittārius, meaning 'pertaining to arrows', owing to the leaf shape of many species.Uses
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. 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.Native American peoples such as the Algonquian, Omaha, Pawnee, and Winnebago use the tubers for food, prepared by boiling or roasting. They were also planted and eaten in China.
In culture
Other names are Pshitola, Si", Si-poro and Kirit, 'cricket' ; known also as kits-hat, 'standing in water', the tuber being termed kirit.Sagittaria is mentioned in the Omaha myths "Ishtinike and the Four Creators" and "How the Big Turtle Went to War".
In 1749, Peter Kalm mentioned Sagittaria as a food plant among the Algonquian peoples:
American explorers Lewis and Clark used arrowhead tubers to survive the winter of 1805–1806.
Katniss Everdeen of the Hunger Games franchise was named after ''Sagittaria.''