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Bull Tongue Arrowhead

Sagittaria lancifolia

Bull Tongue Arrowhead Locations in North America
Bull Tongue Arrowhead Locations in Southeast US
bull tongue arrowhead drawing

Bull Tongue Arrowhead
Bull Tongue Arrowhead
bull tongue arrowhead on bank

bull tongue arrowhead flowers
full bull tongue arrowhead
bull tongue close up

Bull tongue arrowhead at a distancr

USDA, NRCS. 2018. The PLANTS Database (http://plants.usda.gov, 28 March 2018). National Plant Data Team, Greensboro, NC 27401-4901 USA.
Illustration courtesy of University of Florida/IFAS Center for Aquatic and Invasive Plants. Used with permission.

What is Bull Tongue Arrowhead?

Other common spellings and names include: lanceleaf arrowhead.

Physical Characteristics

Leaves:

  • Straight
  • Blades oval- to elliptical-shaped or sword-shaped
  • Not lobed
  • Tapering at both ends
  • Firm
  • Up to 1.25 feet long & 0.25 feet wide

Flowers:

  • Sepals fleshy
  • Stamen with slender filaments no longer than the anthers
  • About 0.4 inches in diameter
  • Blooms Jun – Aug

Fruit:

  • One seeded
  • Does not open to release seed when ripe
  • Wedge-shaped or sword-shaped
  • Up to 0.09 inches long & 0.02 inches wide

Stem:

  • Simple or branching at lower nodes
  • Main axis can have as many as 10 whorls
  • Bracts oval-shaped, up to 0.59 inches long

Where Does it Grow?

Bull tongue arrowhead can be found in swamps, marshes, wet muddy ground, and along streams.

Pros and Cons of Arrowhead

The tubers of arrowheads are prized foods by ducks, geese, muskrats, and nutria. Seeds are sometimes consumed by ducks. Submerged portions of all aquatic plants provide habitats for many micro and macro invertebrates. These invertebrates in turn are used as food by fish and other wildlife species (e.g. amphibians, reptiles, ducks, etc.). After aquatic plants die, their decomposition by bacteria and fungi provides food (called “detritus”) for many aquatic invertebrates.

 

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Photo Credits: The majority of the aquatic plant line drawings are the copyright of the University of Florida Center for Aquatic Plants (Gainsville). They are used with permission.

Aquatic plant photographs were provided by David Bayne, Jim Davis, Kelly Duffie, Billy Higginbotham, Michael Masser, John Clayton, Chetta Owens, Diane Smith, Joe Snow, Don Steinbach, Bridget Robinson Lassiter and Peter Woods.

You may use these photos, so long as you give credit to AquaPlant.

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