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Bunched Arrowhead

Sagittaria fasciculata (saj-ee-TAR-ee-uh fas-sik-yoo-LAY-tah)

Family: Alismataceae Native Herbaceous (1-3 ft)

Bunched arrowhead is a small herbaceous perennial in the Alismataceae (water plantain) family that grows in wetland areas. Though it has "arrowhead" in its common name it is the only member of its genus that has lance-shaped instead of arrowhead leaves. It grows about 15 inches tall and blooms mid-May through July. This plant produces edible tubers that were heavily collected by the native Americans as a food source. Submerged leaves are long and narrow, round in cross-section. Emerging leaves are flat, broadly ovate, or lanceolate. They need clean, slow-flowing water on gently sloped landscapes or in deciduous forests. This is an endangered plant, if you find one do not disturb it. Bunched arrowhead is found only in small, isolated pockets in Henderson County North Carolina and Greenville County South Carolina. The seepage habitat in which grows is extremely threatened, and the remaining populations are threatened by residential and industrial development, conversion to pasture, and invasive species.

Source: NC State Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox ↗ NC State Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox, 41 attributes.

How it fits the guild

Guild layer 4 - Herbaceous (1-3 ft)
See companions & conflicts ↓

Companions & Conflicts

Curated pairwise relationships between this plant and others in the library — who feeds whom, who competes, who confuses the pests. Green reads as a good pairing, red as one to avoid.

No curated interactions recorded for this species yet.

Also noted by NC State

Related species the NC State Plant Toolbox flags for this plant — look-alikes to tell apart, and plants that play a similar role in a planting. Ones we carry in the library are linked.

Fills a similar niche Dactylorhiza viridis var. virescens Muenchhusia laevis Platanthera flava

Full plant profile

Growing Conditions
Plant type
Herbaceous Perennial; Native Plant; Water Plant; Wildflower
Life cycle
Perennial
USDA zones
6a, 6b
Light
Dappled Sunlight (Shade through upper canopy all day) | Deep shade (Less than 2 hours to no direct sunlight)
Soil texture
Loam (Silt)
Soil drainage
Frequent Standing Water | Moist | Occasional Flooding | Occasionally Wet
Available space
Less than 12 inches
NC region
Mountains
Mature size
Height: 0 ft. 3 in. - 1 ft. 4 in. | Width: 0 ft. 3 in. - 1 ft. 0 in.
Canopy layer
4 - Herbaceous (1-3 ft)
Form & Appearance
Habit / form
Erect
Foliage
Deciduous
Leaf color
Green
Leaf type
Simple
Leaf shape
Lanceolate; Ovate
Leaf size
> 6 inches long, 1-3 inches wide
Hairs present
No
Leaf detail
Emergent leaves are broad and tapered at the tip up to 1 foot long and 1-2 inches wide.
Flower color
White
Flower shape
Radial
Flower detail
White flowers with yellow center appear in mid May, late spring to early summer.
Bloom time
Spring; Summer
Fruit detail
Fruits mature a in the summer
Wildlife & Ecology
Native status
Native
Origin
NC, SC
Distribution
Henderson and Buncombe counties in North Carolina plus Greenville and Laurens counties in South Carolina
Food & Medicine
Harvest time
Summer

Edibility

Edible

Uses (ethnobotany)

Native Americans at the tubers.

Landscape Use
Landscape location
Slope/Bank; Woodland
Landscape theme
Native Garden
Garden tags
#endangered #edible roots #OBL #wet soils tolerant #NC native #water garden #boggy sites #NC Native Pollinator Plant #woodland #wildflower #wetland #illustration
Problems & Resistance
Resistant to
Wet Soil

Planted at Hunnicutt

Nobody’s planted this one yet.