Key to Sagittaria

View taxon page for Sagittaria

(For a list of species in Sagittaria, use the above link.)

Jepson Manual glossary definitions can be seen by moving your cursor over words underlined with dots.

1. Pistillate flowers ± 

sessile 

Without a petiole, peduncle, pedicel, or other kind of stalk.

; scape bent at inflorescence ..... S. rigida

1' Pistillate flowers pedicelled; scape straight at inflorescence

2. Stolons, tubers 0; lowest inflorescence 

node 

Position on a stem from which one or more structures (especially leaves, buds, branches, or flowers) arise.

with 2 

bisexual 

Both male and female reproductive parts occurring and functional in the same plant or structure (e.g., flower, spikelet, inflorescence).

flowers ..... S. montevidensis subsp. calycina

2' Stolons, tubers present; lowest inflorescence node with 3 pistillate flowers

3. Emergent 

leaf 

Organ arising from a stem, generally composed of a stalk (petiole) and a flat, expanded, green, photosynthetic area (blade); distinguished from a leaflet by the presence in its axil of a bud, branch, thorn, or flower; sometimes with lateral, basal appendages (stipules); either simple (toothed, lobed, or dissected but not divided into leaflets) or compound (divided into leaflets).

 blades 

linear 

Elongate, with nearly parallel sides; narrower than elliptic or oblong.

to 

lanceolate 

Narrowly elongate, widest in the basal half, often tapered to an acute tip.

; 

pedicels 

Stalk of an individual flower in an inflorescence, or the corresponding structure in fruit.

 

recurved 

Gradually curved downward or backward.

in fruit, thickened ..... S. sanfordii

3' Emergent leaf blades generally 

sagittate 

Arrowhead-shaped, with two basal lobes oriented nearly parallel to the long axis.

; pedicels 

ascending 

Curving or angling upward from base, or about 30-60 degrees less than vertical or away from axis of attachment.

in fruit, not thickened

4. Basal 

lobes 

1. A major expansion or bulge, such as on the margin of a leaf, sepal, or petal, or on the surface of an ovary. 2. The free tips of otherwise fused structures, such as sepals or petals; larger than teeth.

of emergent leaf blades generally > terminal; tubers spheric, tan ..... S. longiloba

4' Basal lobes of emergent leaf blades <= terminal; tubers 

oblong 

Longer than wide, with nearly parallel sides; wider than linear.

, ± white or ± blue

5. Fruit beak terminal, 

erect 

Upright; vertically oriented.

, 0.1–0.4 mm; emergent leaves with 

petioles 

Leaf stalk, connecting leaf blade to stem; sometimes more or less indistinct.

recurved, 

basal 

At or near the base of a plant or plant part. Especially said of leaves clustered near the ground or of a placenta confined to the base of an ovary.

lobes of blades < terminal ..... S. cuneata

5' Fruit beak lateral, 

spreading 

Oriented more or less perpendicularly to the axis of attachment; often, more or less horizontal.

, 1–2 mm; emergent leaves with petioles ascending to erect, basal lobes of blades ± = terminal ..... S. latifolia

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