General: Perennial aquatic or semi-aquatic herb from a tuber-producing rhizome; stems 20-50 cm tall.
Leaves: All basal, blades of the emergent leaves arrowhead-shaped, 1-12 cm long, long-stalked and sheathed at the base, blades of the submerged leaves lanceolate, or linear and essentially bladeless, up to 40 cm long.
Flowers: Inflorescence an open, bracteate panicle of stalked flowers, the bracts lanceolate, long-pointed at the tips, (5) 10-30 mm long; mature male flower stalks longer than the female flower stalks; petals white, 1-2 cm long; sepals 5-8 mm long.
Fruits: Achenes, numerous in a globular cluster, winged, 2-2.5 mm long, the beaks erect, 0.2-0.4 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 and lakes in the lowland, steppe and montane zones; common in BC south of 55degreeN and E of the Coast-Cascade Mountains, less frequent westward and northward; N to AK, YT and NT, E to Labr., NB and NS and S to ME, NY, OH, IL, TX, NM, AZ and CA.
The table below shows the species-specific information calculated from original data (BEC database) provided by the BC Ministry of Forests and Range. (Updated August, 2013)
