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Peltandra sagittifolia

Common name:	White Arrow Arum	Family:	Araceae
Author:	(Michx.)Morong.	Botanical references:	72, 200
Synonyms:	Peltandra glauca ((Ell.)Feay.), Peltandra alba (Raf.)
Known Hazards:	The plant is rich in calcium oxylate, this is toxic and if consumed makes the mouth and digestive tract feel as though hundreds of tiny needles are being stuck into it. However, calcium oxylate is easily destroyed by thoroughly cooking or drying the plant[95].
Range:	South-eastern N. America - North Carolina to Florida.
Habitat:	Non-alluvial swamps, especially on acid soils[72], and in shallow water at the edges of ponds[1].
Edibility Rating (1-5):	2	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	0

Other Possible Synonyms:	From various places across the web, may not be correct. See below.
	P. luteospadix[B,P] P. virginica ssp. luteospadix[B,P]
Other Common Names:	From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below.
	White Arrow Arum [P], White Arrow-arum [B],
Epithets:	From a Dictionary of Botanical Epithets
	sagittifolia = arrow shaped leaves;
Systematics:	From a USDA Plants Database
	Order: Arales. Arum family

Physical Characteristics

Perennial growing to 0.15m. It is hardy to zone 7. It is in flower from May to June. The flowers are monoecious (individual flowers are either male or female, but both sexes can be found on the same plant). We rate it 2/5 for edibility and 0/5 for medicinal use.

The plant prefers light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils. The plant prefers acid and neutral soils. It cannot grow in the shade. It requires wet soil and can grow in water.

Habitats and Possible Locations

Pond, Bog Garden.

Edible Uses

Fruit; Root.

Root - must be well cooked in order to destroy an acrimonious principle, see the notes above on toxicity[95]. The root contains much farinaceous material[1, 105, 161] and can weigh up to 2.7 kilos each[95].
Fruit[105]. No more details but caution is advised - see the notes above on toxicity.

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

None known

Other Uses

None known

Cultivation details

Requires a wet lime-free humus-rich soil by the side of water or in shallow still or slowly flowing water in a sunny position[200].
Plants are best grown in clumps[1].

Propagation

Seed - best sown as soon as it is ripe in late summer in pots of soil that are submerged to their rims in water[200]. When they are large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and grow them on in trays of water in the greenhouse for their first winter. Plant them out into their permanent positions in late spring or early summer, after the last expected frosts.
Division in spring[200]. Larger divisions can be planted out direct into their permanent positions. We have found that it is better to pot up the smaller divisions and grow them on in light shade in a cold frame until they are well established before planting them out in late spring or early summer.
Stem cuttings rooted in wet mud in the summer[200].

Suppliers

For more details of plant suppliers please see our Suppliers Page which lists many more places to look.

Web References

[B] Data (Latin & Common names, other references) from the BONAP's Synonymized Checklist of the Vascular Flora of the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
[G] Data (Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.
[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.
[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.
[HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant Database

References for the family Araceae.

[CHINA] Draft Data Very detailed botanical/identification info. from the Flora of China.

See the PFAF Links Pages for other sources.

Also try Photos and info from the The Plants Database which has 14,000 images.

References

[1] F. Chittendon. RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 Oxford University Press 1951
Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaces in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [200]).

[72] Small. Manual of the Southeastern Flora.
Getting rather dated now, it covers Southeastern N. America. No pictures, it is not for the casual reader.

[95] Saunders. C. F. Edible and Useful Wild Plants of the United States and Canada. Dover Publications 1976 ISBN 0-486-23310-3
Useful wild plants of America. A pocket guide.

[105] Tanaka. T. Tanaka's Cyclopaedia of Edible Plants of the World. Keigaku Publishing 1976
The most comprehensive guide to edible plants I've come across. Only the briefest entry for each species, though, and some of the entries are more than a little dubious. Not for the casual reader.

[161] Yanovsky. E. Food Plants of the N. American Indians. Publication no. 237. U.S. Depf of Agriculture.
A comprehensive but very terse guide. Not for the casual reader.

[200] Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992 ISBN 0-333-47494-5
Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.

Readers Comments

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Bibliography

Plant information taken from the Plants For A Future - Species Database. Copyright (c) 1997-2003.
WEB search engine by Rich Morris - Home Page- Contact Info
Blagdon Cross, Ashwater, Beaworthy, Devon, EX21 5DF, UK.
Website: www.pfaf.org Phone: 0845 458 4719/_44(0) 1208 872963

This page (UK) http://www.comp.leeds.ac.uk/cgi-bin/pfaf/arr_html?Peltandra+sagittifolia
This page (US) http://www.ibiblio.org/pfaf/cgi-bin/arr_html?Peltandra+sagittifolia

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