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 fishes 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 1 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 



