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Delta Arrowhead

Sagittaria platyphylla

Delta Arrowhead Locations in North America
Delta Arrowhead Locations in Southeast US



USDA, NRCS. 2018. The PLANTS Database (http://plants.usda.gov, 28 March 2018). National Plant Data Team, Greensboro, NC 27401-4901 USA.
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?

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.

How to Manage This Plant
Plant Glossary

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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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