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Wildflower Families: Dogwood Family Orchid Family Honeysuckle Family Pitcher Plant Family Jewel—weed Family Water Lily Family Water Plantian Family Dogbane Family Lobelia Family Mint Family Read More Articles About: Wildflower Families |
( Originally Published 1908 ) ALISMACEAE SAGITTARIA. Along the small brooks and in many swampy places the leaves and blossoms of the Arrowhead or Sagittaria—the Latin equivalent of the English name—give a distinctly decorative touch to the summer landscape. In appearance the whole plant is so clear-cut that one must admire it. The smooth and shining stems rise from the water at a small angle from one another, bearing on their ends the triangular, sharply pointed leaves, while from between these the cleanly cut blossom-bearing stalks arise holding the pure white, sub-triangular, pollen-bearing flowers clustered along their upper ends. The seed-bearing blossoms are less conspicuous, lacking the white petals. More than a dozen species of Sagittaria are found in the United States, though only about half of these have the distinctly arrow-shaped leaf. Most of them remain in blossom from July until September. The Arrowheads form much the largest part of the Water Plantain family to which they belong, the other members of the group being small and inconspicuous plants living in damp situations and not generally known. |