The green links below add additional plants to the comparison table. Blue links lead to other Web sites.
enable glossary links

grass-leaf arrowhead, grassy arrowhead, sagittaire a feuilles de graminees

narrow-leaf arrowhead, threadleaf arrowhead

Habit Herbs, perennial, to 100 cm; rhizomes coarse; stolons absent; corms absent. Herbs, perennial, to 170 cm, mostly of fresh waters, some plants stranded along shore; rhizomes absent; stolons present; corms present.
Leaves

submersed or emersed; submersed leaves phyllodial, angled abaxially, flattened adaxially, 6.4–35 × 0.5–4 cm; emersed with petiole triangular, 6.5–17 cm, blade linear to linear-oblanceolate, 2.5–17.4 × 0.2–4 cm.

submersed or floating, rarely emersed; submersed phyllodial, flattened, 30–250 × 0.1–1.5 cm; floating with petiole flattened, to 40 cm, blade linear-ovate to ovate, rarely sagittate, to 3.5 × 0.5 cm; emersed with petiole 5–10 cm, blade linear-ovate to ovate, rarely hastate to sagittate, to 4 × 0.5 cm; stranded plants usually with expanded leaf blades.

Inflorescences

racemes or panicles, of 1–12 whorls, emersed, 2.5–21 × 1–8 cm;

peduncles 6.5–29.7 cm;

bracts connate more than to equal to ¼ total length, broadly subulate to lanceolate, 20–50 mm, coarse, not papillose; fruiting pedicels spreading, cylindric, 0.5–5 cm.

racemes, rarely panicles, of 4–10 whorls, floating to slightly emersed, 15–25 × 5–15 cm;

peduncles 10–200 cm;

bracts connate more than ¼ total length, lanceolate, 110 mm, delicate, not papillose; fruiting pedicels spreading to recurved, cylindric, 1.5–4.5 cm.

Flowers

to 2.3 cm diam.;

sepals recurved to spreading, not enclosing flower;

filaments dilated, shorter than anthers, pubescent;

pistillate flowers pedicellate, without ring of sterile stamens.

to 3 cm diam.;

sepals spreading in staminate, erect in pistillate, enclosing flower or fruiting head;

filaments dilated, ± equaling anthers, glabrous;

pistillate pedicellate, without ring of sterile stamens.

Fruiting

heads 0.6–1.5 cm diam.;

achenes oblanceoloid, without abaxial keel, 1.5–2.8 × 1.1–1.5 mm, beaked;

faces not tuberculate, abaxial wings 0–1, ± entire, glands 1–2;

beak lateral, erect, 0.2 mm.

heads 0.7–1 cm diam.;

achenes obovoid, abaxially keeled, 5 × 2.5 mm, beaked;

faces not tuberculate, wings 0–3, ± entire, glands 0–1;

beak lateral, erect, 1 mm.

2n

= 22.

Sagittaria graminea

Sagittaria filiformis

Phenology Flowering summer–fall.
Habitat Shallow, swift waters or deep streams in northern portion of range, ponds, lakes, drainage canals, and swamps in southern portion of range
Elevation 0–100 m (0–300 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AL; AR; CT; DE; FL; GA; IA; IL; IN; KS; KY; LA; MA; MD; ME; MI; MN; MO; MS; NC; NE; NH; NJ; NY; OH; OK; PA; RI; SC; SD; TN; TX; VA; VT; WA; WI; WV; NB; NF; NS; ON; PE; QC; West Indies (Cuba)
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AL; CT; FL; GA; MA; ME; NC; NJ; NY; PA; RI; SC; VA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Seven varieties of Sagittaria graminea have been recognized, i.e., var. graminea, var. platyphylla Engelmann, var. teres (S. Watson) Bogin, var. weatherbiana Fernald, var. cristata (Engelmann) Bogin, var. chapmanii J. G. Smith, and var. macrocarpa (J. G. Smith) Bogin (C. Bogin 1955). We accept only one infraspecific rank, i.e., subspecies. Consequently, we have made the appropriate combinations. We accept all of the taxa accepted by Bogin at the varietal level. At specific level we accept Bogin’s var. platyphylla, var. teres, and var. cristata and at subspecific level his var. graminea, var. chapmanii, and var. weatherbiana.

Sagittaria graminea var. macrocarpa actually is synonymous with var. graminea (E. O. Beal 1960b). We therefore are following Beal in recognizing var. macrocarpa sensu Bogin as S. fasciculata. We also accept var. platyphylla, var. teres, and var. cristata at the specific level, leaving only three subspecies. These subspecies can be separated by the branching of the inflorescence and the length of pistillate pedicels.

Subspecies 3 (3 in the flora).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Key
1. Inflorescences panicles.
subsp. chapmanii
1. Inflorescences racemes.
→ 2
2. Pistillate pedicels 0.5–3 cm; phyllodia less than 1 cm wide
subsp. graminea
2. Pistillate pedicels 2.1–5 cm; phyllodia more than 1 cm wide
subsp. weatherbiana
Source FNA vol. 22. FNA vol. 22.
Parent taxa Alismataceae > Sagittaria Alismataceae > Sagittaria
Sibling taxa
S. ambigua, S. australis, S. brevirostra, S. cristata, S. cuneata, S. demersa, S. engelmanniana, S. fasciculata, S. filiformis, S. guayanensis, S. isoetiformis, S. kurziana, S. lancifolia, S. latifolia, S. longiloba, S. montevidensis, S. papillosa, S. platyphylla, S. rigida, S. sanfordii, S. secundifolia, S. subulata, S. teres
S. ambigua, S. australis, S. brevirostra, S. cristata, S. cuneata, S. demersa, S. engelmanniana, S. fasciculata, S. graminea, S. guayanensis, S. isoetiformis, S. kurziana, S. lancifolia, S. latifolia, S. longiloba, S. montevidensis, S. papillosa, S. platyphylla, S. rigida, S. sanfordii, S. secundifolia, S. subulata, S. teres
Subordinate taxa
S. graminea subsp. chapmanii, S. graminea subsp. graminea, S. graminea subsp. weatherbiana
Synonyms S. stagnorum, S. subulata var. gracillima
Name authority Michaux: Flora Boreali-Americana 2: 190. (1803) J. G. Smith: N. Amer. Sagittaria. 20, plate 15, figs. 5–8. (1894)
Web links