Mead Botanical Garden Winter Park Florida USA – Winter Season 2021

Sagittaria lancifolia - Duck Potato

Sagittaria lancifolia – Duck Potato

Sagittaria lancifolia, the bulltongue arrowhead, is a perennial, monocot plant in the family Alismataceae, genus Sagittaria, with herbaceous growth patterns. It is native to the southeastern United States. It is known from every coastal state from Delaware to Texas.

The plant is conspicuous for its large, lance-shaped leaves which grow up from underground rhizomes and its showy, white three-petaled flowers which form at the end of long, thick stalks. Each flower has three green sepals, three white or pink-tinged petals, at least six stamens, and pistils which may be in separate flowers. The plant likes to grow in fresh or brackish water and is commonly found in ditches, marshes, swamps and along the shores of lakes and streams.