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Shortbeak Arrowhead

Sagittaria brevirostra

Shortbeak Arrowhead Locations in North America
Shortbeak 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: 100.

What is Shortbeak Arrowhead?

Other common spellings and names include: Midwestern arrowhead.

Physical Characteristics

Leaves:

  • Straight
  • Egg- or sword-shaped leaf blades
  • Arrowhead shaped
  • Portion above the base lobes up to 8 inches long & wide

Flowers:

  • Bracts firm & sword-shaped
  • Densely covered in bristles or spines
  • Up to 0.78 inches in diameter
  • Blooms Jul – Aug

Fruit:

  • One seeded
  • Does not open to release seed when ripe
  • Up to 0.13 inches long & 0.08 inches wide

Stem:

  • Simple or branching at base
  • Main axis has up to 12 whorls

Where Does it Grow?

Shortbeak arrowhead can be found along rivers, ditches and swamps.

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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