Bunched Arrowhead (Sagittaria fasciculata)

Sagittaria fasciculata is very rare, growing in just a few Piedmont Seepage Forests in North and South Carolina.  The seepage habitat in which Sagittaria fasciculata occurs is extremely threatened, and remaining Sagittaria fasciculata populations are threatened by residential and industrial development, conversion to pasture, and invasive exotic species.

The plant is a small (about 15 inches) herbaceous plant that blooms from late April through July, it’s the only member of the Sagittaria genus that doesn’t have arrowhead-shaped leaves.   Submerged leaves are long and narrow, round in cross-section. Emerging leaves are flat, broadly ovate or lanceolate.

Conservation:

Sagittaria fasciculata is federally-listed as endangered and the principal strategy for its survival and recovery as determined by the USFWS is protection of existing populations and their habitat.

Local residents, state, local, and federal agencies, nonprofit groups, and generous contributors have worked to protect the Bunched Arrowhead.  A number of preserves have been created by the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources and local conservationists in the headwaters of the Enoree and Tygers Rivers in Greenville County.

Click the map above to visit the Naturaland Trust website.

Visit the Bunched Arrowhead Heritage Preserve in near Travelers Rest to see the plant, and watch the SCNPS calendar for opportunities to help with the ongoing restoration efforts at the Blackwell Heritage Preserve site.

 

References:

SC-DNR:  Bunched Arrowhead Preserve

NCSU:  Sagittaria fasciculata 

SCNPS:  Blackwell Heritage Trust Privet Pull  & Blackwell Heritage Preserve Privet Pull

Naturaland Trust:  Bunched Arrowhead Preserve

Photo compliments of Janie Marlow c/o NameThatPlant.org