General: Perennial aquatic or semi-aquatic herb from a tuber-producing rhizome; stems 20-50 (90) cm tall.
Leaves: All basal, blades of the emergent leaves arrowhead-shaped, 5-25 cm long, long-stalked and sheathed at the base, blades of the submerged leaves lanceolate, or linear and essentially bladeless, up to 80 cm long.
Flowers: Inflorescence an open, bracteate panicle of stalked flowers, the bracts egg-shaped, rounded or hooded at the tips, 5-10 (15) mm long; mature male and female flower stalks of equal length; petals white, 1-2 cm long; sepals 5-8 mm long.
Fruits: Achenes, numerous in a globular cluster, winged, 2-3.5 mm long, sharp-beaked, the beaks extending at right angles to the body, 0.5-1.5 mm long.
1. Achenes with beaks extending at right angles to the body, the beaks 0.5-1.5 mm long; bracts of the inflorescences egg-shaped, rounded or hooded at the tips, 5-10 (15) mm long; mature male and female flower stalks of equal length.........Sagittaria latifolia
1. Achenes with beaks erect, the beaks 0.2-0.4 mm long; bracts of the inflorescences lanceolate, long-pointed at the tips, (5) 10-30 mm long; mature male flower stalks longer than the female flower stalks.................Sagittaria cuneata
Habitat / Range
Wet ditches, ponds, lakeshores and marshes in the lowland, steppe and montane zones; infrequent in BC south of 56degreeN, absent from Queen Charlotte Islands, N Vancouver Island and adjacent coast; E to PQ, NB and NS and S to ME, PA, NC, FL, MS, TX, NM, AZ and CA; N South America, HI.
