Common Name: arrowhead
Type: Herbaceous perennial
Family: Alismataceae
Zone: 5 to 10
Height: 1.00 to 3.00 feet
Spread: 1.00 to 2.00 feet
Bloom Time: July to September
Bloom Description: White
Sun: Full sun to part shade
Water: Wet
Maintenance: Medium
Suggested Use: Water Plant, Naturalize, Rain Garden
Flower: Showy
Leaf: Colorful
Attracts: Birds
Culture
Winter hardy to USDA Zones 5-10. Needs full sun for best flowering. Set out plants, tubers or runners in spring in mud at the margins of a pond or in containers in a water garden, either along the shore or in up to 3-6” of water. Plants spread by runners. Remove stems as needed to keep plants within prescribed growing areas.
SILK STOCKINGS is a patented plant.
Noteworthy Characteristics
Sagittaria australis, commonly called long-beaked arrowhead or Appalachian arrowhead, is a herbaceous, submerged or marginal aquatic perennial. It is native to eastern North America, ranging from New York to Georgia east to the Mississippi River. This is a somewhat weedy plant that commonly grows submerged in shallow water or out of water on wet, muddy banks. Plants will grow to 3’ tall, but are more typically seen growing in the 16-18” tall range. Each plant produces leaves and flowers on separate stalks. Leaves (4-12” long) can be quite variable in size. Emersed leaves are typically sagittate (arrowhead-shaped). Submerged leaves are often much narrower (linear to ovate). Three-petaled white flowers appear in whorls of three atop flowering stalks rising to 3’ tall. Male flowers have bushy yellow center stamens and female flowers have mounded green centers. Plants bloom freely from July to September.
Genus name comes from the Latin word sagitta meaning an arrow for the form of the leaves.
Specific epithet means southern.
SILK STOCKINGS is a cultivar that is primarily distinguished from the species by its variegated maroon leaves, bracts and sepals. Leaves unfurl in spring as maroon-purple, but fade to light gray-purple and green as the growing season progresses. U.S. Plant Patent PP12,198 issued November 13, 2001.
Problems
No serious insect or disease problems. Watch for spider mites and aphids.
Uses
Water or bog gardens. Plants will colonize at the margins of ponds.