WATER PLANTAIN FAMILY ALISMACEAE 
ARROWHEAD 
Sagittaria latifolia Willd. 
The Water Plantain family includes a number of 
marsh herbs that are widely distributed in fresh-water 
swamps, about ponds and along streams. In tramping 
about such places in 
Illinois, we are almost 
certain to find some 
members of this family. 
Arrowhead, which gets 
its name from the shape of 
its leaves, is common in 
shallow waters and on wet 
banks generally through- 
out the United States. In 
some localities, however, 
it has been exterminated 
by the drainage of ponds 
and lakes, and in others 
by introduction of certain 
kinds of shes that live largely upon young aquatic plants. 
It grows perennially from a heavy, branching underground 
stem that bears very starchy tubers, which the Indians formerly 
used for food. Leaves are variable in size and shape, being 4-16 
inches in length and sometimes wider than long. They arise 
from the base of the plant and usually maintain a nearly vertical 
position. 
The flowering stem, commonly 1-3 feet tall, bears its blossoms 
from June to September in whorls of 3. Usually the lower 
whorls contain only pistillate flowers and the upper only stami- 
nate. The petals are white and soon fall off, but the green sepals 
persist while the fruit is maturing. The seeds have membranous 
wings which make easy their dissemination by wind and water. 
Here I come creeping, creeping everywhere ; 
By the dusty roadside, 
On the sunny hillside, 
Close by the noisy brook, 
In every shady nook, 
I come creeping, creeping everywhere. 
The Voice of the Grass—SARAH ROBERTS 
- 36 
