Broadleaf Arrowhead

Arrowhead, duck potato or wapato is a vigorous, deciduous, marginal aquatic perennial that typically grows 1-4’ tall. It is noted for its arrowhead-shaped leaves and three-petaled white flowers in whorls of three. It commonly grows submerged in shallow water or out of water on wet muddy banks. It is native to sloughs, swamps, marshes and margins of streams and ponds throughout North America. Each plant produces leaves and flowers on separate stalks. Leaves can be quite variable in size. Emersed leaves (to 12” long) are typically broadly sagittate (arrowhead-shaped). Submerged leaves are often much narrower (linear to ovate). Three-petaled white flowers appear in whorls of three atop stalks rising to 4’ tall. Male flowers have bushy yellow center stamens and female flowers have mounded green centers. Plants bloom freely from July to September. The common names of duck potato and wapato are in reference to the enlarged rounded starchy golfball-sized tubers that form at the ends of underground plant runners (rhizomes). When dislodged from the mud, these tubers will float to the surface. They are edible, and may be boiled or baked and eaten as a potato-like food. Native Americans harvested and consumed these tubers, which in some areas were known as wapato. The tubers are also an important food source for waterfowl, hence the name duck potato. Seeds are attractive to many water birds. Arrowhead is commonly used in pond restorations.