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Valley arrowhead

Sagittaria sanfordii

Also called Valley Sagittaria, Sanford's Arrowhead

Valley arrowhead
Photo: J. Molter, Public domain

Valley arrowhead is an uncommon aquatic perennial from California's wetlands, growing from a tuber in shallow water or wet soil. It is grown mainly by native-plant and wetland enthusiasts, and it depends on stable, unpolluted water.

Family
Alismataceae (Alismat family)
Grows as
Aquatic, Bulb
Light
Full sun
Water
Keep the tuber submerged in shallow water or constantly saturated mud.
Soil
Heavy mud, clay or loam kept waterlogged.
Temperature
Tolerates cool to mild temperatures in its native range; protect from hard freeze.
How easy
Moderate
Edible
Yes, some parts
Native range
C. California
Climate
temperate

About

Sagittaria sanfordii is an uncommon species of flowering plant in the water plantain family known by the common names valley arrowhead and Sanford's arrowhead that is endemic to California.

Where it grows

In California, it is known from a few scattered occurrences on the North Coast and in the Central Valley. Many occurrences previously noted in the Central Valley and in southern California have been extirpated as the plant's aquatic habitat has been lost to human activity.

Other Sagittaria plants

Kansas arrowhead · Longbeak arrowhead · Shortbeak arrowhead · Crested arrowhead · Arumleaf arrowhead · Chihuahuan arrowhead · Engelmann's arrowhead · Bunched arrowhead · Threadleaf arrowhead · Grassy arrowhead · Quillwort arrowhead · Springtape

Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Sagittaria sanfordii by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.

The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.

Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.

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