Delta Arrowhead

Sagittaria platyphylla

Illustration: USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913. An illustrated flora of the northern United States, Canada and the British Possessions. 3 vols. Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York. Vol. 1: 103.

What is Delta Arrowhead?

Physical Characteristics

Leaves:

• Straight
• Oval- to elliptical- shaped or sword-shaped
• No lobes
• Up to 7.09 inches long & 3.16 inches wide

Flowers:

• Up to 0.59 inches in diameter
• Stamen longer than anthers
• White
• Bloom in June

Fruit:

• One seeded
• Does not open to release seed when ripe
• Up to 0.08 inches long & 0.02 inches wide
• Faces with 1-3 narrow ridges

Stem:

• Simple
• Up to 8 whorls
• Bracts oval-shaped, up to 0.31 inches long

Where Does it Grow?

USDA, NRCS. The PLANTS Database (http://plants.usda.gov). National Plant Data Team, Greensboro, NC 27401-4901 USA.

Delta arrowhead can be found in mud or in the shallow water of marshes, streams, swamps, and ponds.

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.