FIVE IMPORTANT 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 1 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 
