Wapato Plant Family

The leaves are arrow shaped sagittate.

Wapato plant family. Citation needed most are native to south central and north america but there are also some from europe africa and asia. Sagittaria is a genus of about 30 species of aquatic plants whose members go by a variety of common names including arrowhead duck potato katniss omodaka 沢瀉 in japanese swamp potato tule potato and wapato or wapatoo. The leaves and flower stalk rise above the water. Its scientific name is sagittaria latifolia from the latin sagittaria saj i tare ee uh meaning arrow shaped and latifolia lat i fole ee uh for wide leaf wapato came to the corps attention on october 22 1805 near the mouth of the deschutes river.

Wapato sagittaria latifolia willd. W apato wah puh toe the indians called it. Wapato as a jargon word for potato has a similarity with the spanish words batata or sweet potato and patata or potato. The corms have been eaten as a treatment for indigestion.

It is not always clear from the literature whether wapato refers specifically to sagittaria latifolia or solanum tuberosum the domesticated table potato. This plant produces edible tubers that were extensively used by the indigenous peoples of the americas. Leaf stems attach directly to the base of the plant like celery. Wapato is an herbaceous wetland plant.