FIVE IMPOETANT WILD-DUCK FOODS. 



WAPATO. 



VALUE AS DUCK FOOD. 



The tubers of wapato (Sagittaria latifolia and Sagittaria arifolia) 

 have been known to white men as an important food for wild fowl 

 since the time of the Lewis and Clark expedition of 1804-1806. These 

 famous explorers state that in the Columbia River Valley large num- 

 bers of ducks, geese, and swans 

 occur where this plant is 

 abundant and that the swans 

 in particular feed extensively 

 upon the plant. A corre- 

 spondent of the Survey, George 

 W. Russell, of Gaston, Oreg., 

 writes that the wapato is fed 

 upon most by the diving ducks, 

 as the canvasback, redhead, 

 and bluebills (scaups), and 

 that they seek it whenever 

 they are present in the country 

 where it grows. Prof. David 

 Dale Owen in his report of a 

 geological survey of Wisconsin, 

 Iowa, and Minnesota notes 

 that these tubers afford much 

 nourishment to the larger 

 aquatic fowls. The vernacu- 

 lar names swan potato and 

 duck potato that have been 

 applied to these plants give 

 further evidence of their value 

 to wild fowl. Other local 

 names are swamp potato, 

 muskrat potato, Chinese onion, 

 and water nut. The Biological 

 Survey has found various parts of Sagittaria plants in stomachs of 

 the following species of waterfowl: Mallard, widgeon, green-winged 

 teal, blue-winged teal, spoonbill, pintail, canvasback, little bluebill, 

 ruddy duck, Canada goose, and whooping swan. 



Fig. 4.— Young eastern plant of the wapato with sin- 

 gle tuber. (Two-thirds natural size.) 



DESCRIPTION OF PLANT. 



The general relations of the stems, flowers, and tubers are the same 

 in the wapato (fig. 4) as in the delta duck potato. The shape of the 

 leaves, however, is entirely different. Both S. latifolia and S. arifolia 

 have arrowhead-shaped leaves. These vary greatly in the length, 

 width, and shape of the point and barbs and in the degree of 



