Broadleaf arrowhead facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Broadleaf arrowhead
Scientific classification
Genus:	Sagittaria
Species:	latifolia

Sagittaria latifolia is a plant that grows in shallow wetlands. It is also known by other names like broadleaf arrowhead, duck-potato, Indian potato, or wapato. This plant makes edible tubers. These tubers have been an important food source for the indigenous peoples of the Americas for a very long time.

What is Broadleaf Arrowhead?

Sagittaria latifolia is a plant that lives for many years (it's a perennial). It grows in groups that can cover large areas of ground. The plant's roots are thin and white. They produce white tubers that have a purplish skin. These tubers grow quite a distance from the main plant.

Plant Parts and Flowers

This plant is green and white. It has a group of leaves that grow in a circle, like a rosette. A tall, stiff stem (called a scape) holds the flowers. The leaves can look very different from one plant to another. They can be very thin or shaped like a wedge. The leaves are spongy and solid. Their veins run side-by-side and meet in the middle.

The flowers grow in a cluster called a raceme. They are large and arranged in groups of three. Usually, the female flowers are on the lower part of the stem. The male flowers are on the upper part. Sometimes, you can find plants that have only male or only female flowers (these are called dioecious plants).

Each flower has three round, white petals. It also has three short, curved, dark green sepals. You can easily tell male flowers from female flowers. Male flowers have 25 to 50 yellow parts called stamens. Female flowers have a round cluster of green parts called carpels.

Interesting Fact

The name of Shubenacadie, a town in Nova Scotia, Canada, means "abounding in ground nuts" in the Mi'kmaq language. This refers to the broadleaf arrowhead plant.

Where Does It Grow?

Sagittaria latifolia is naturally found in southern Canada and most of the United States. It also grows in Mexico, Central America, Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, and Cuba.

It has also spread and now grows in other places. These include Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Bhutan, Australia, and many parts of Europe. In Europe, you can find it in France, Spain, Italy, Romania, Germany, Switzerland, the Czech Republic, and parts of European Russia. In Mexico, it grows in several states like Campeche and Veracruz.

How It Lives in Nature

Broadleaf arrowhead is very common as an emergent plant. This means it grows in water but its leaves and flowers stick out above the surface. It forms thick groups in very wet soils. These groups become less dense in deeper water where other plants grow.

These plant groups create long green bands. They follow the curves of rivers, ponds, and lakes. The plant has strong roots. This helps it survive big changes in water level. It can also handle slow currents and waves. It prefers water with high levels of phosphates and hard water (water with many minerals).

Animals and the Plant

Even though it's called "duck potato," ducks usually don't eat the tubers. The tubers are often buried too deep for them to reach. However, ducks do often eat the plant's seeds.

Other animals like Beavers, North American Porcupines, and muskrats eat the whole plant. This includes the tubers. It is said that indigenous peoples would open muskrat houses to find the roots the muskrats had collected.

Growing and Eating Broadleaf Arrowhead

This plant is easy to grow in water that is about 0.15 to 0.45 metres (5.9 to 17.7 in) deep. It prefers water with little or no current. The tubers should be planted with enough space between them. About 12 plants per square meter is a good number. Plant them in late May, about 5 to 7 centimetres (2.0 to 2.8 in) deep. You can use decomposed manure to help them grow.

You can grow more plants from seeds or by dividing the existing plants in July. The starchy tubers grow from underground stems (rhizomes) in the wet ground. These tubers have been a very important food source for the indigenous peoples of the Americas.

Harvesting and Cooking Tubers

You can get the tubers out of the ground in different ways. You can use your feet, a pitchfork, or a stick. After digging them up, the tubers usually float to the surface. Ripe tubers can be collected in the fall. You can also often find them floating freely at that time.

These tubers can be eaten raw. Or, you can cook them for 15 to 20 minutes. They taste similar to potatoes and chestnuts. You can prepare them in many ways, like roasting, frying, or boiling. You can also slice them and dry them to make a flour.

Other parts of the plant are also edible. These include the late summer buds and fruits. This plant can sometimes be affected by small pests like aphids and spider mites.

Related pages

• Arrowhead (plant), native to wetlands most of Europe from Ireland and Portugal to Finland and Bulgaria, and in Russia, Ukraine, Siberia, Japan, Turkey, China, Australia, Vietnam and the Caucasus.