There is considerable confusion between this species and Sagittaria sagittifolia L. We are adopting the treatment in the Flora of China[] and Kew's 'World Checklist of Selected Plant Families'. In this view of the species, Sagittaria sagittifolia is fully temperate in its range, being found through most of Europe and into west Asia. Sagittaria trifolia is the species cultivated for its edible tubers. In Europe it is only found in far eastern Russia, but extends through much of temperate Asia into tropical southeast Asia.

Common Name: Arrow Head

General Information

Sagittaria trifolia is a herbaceous perennial plant, spreading by means of stolons and forming underground corms. It produces clumps of growth up to 100cm tall[]. The arrow-shaped leaves are borne on triangular stalks that vary in length with the depth of the water in which the plant is growing[].
The plant provides an edible corm that is commonly eaten in Asia. It is much harvested from the wild for food and medicine and is also commonly cultivated in southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands for the edible starchy rhizomes[].
Sagittaria trifolia is widespread and locally common throughout its range. No major threats to this species have been described. The plant is classified as 'Least Concern' in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species(2013)[].

Known Hazards

None known

Botanical References

Range

Asia - Caucasus and Irag, east through central Asia and India to Russian Far East, Japan, Korea, Philippines and Indonesia

Habitat

Ponds, lakes, marshes and channels, it is also a common weed in paddy field[, ].

Properties

Conservation Status	Least Concern
Edibility Rating
Medicinal Rating
Habit	Perennial
Height	1.00 m
Pollinators	Insects
Cultivation Status	Cultivated, Wild

Cultivation Details

Sagittaria trifolia is found from the temperate zone through to the tropics. It grows best in areas where annual daytime temperatures are within the range 16 - 24°c, but can tolerate 12 - 28°c[]. When dormant, the plant can survive temperatures down to about -10°c, but young growth can be severely damaged at 0°c[, ]. It prefers a mean annual rainfall in the range 00 - 1,200mm, but tolerates 600 - 1,500mm[].
A pond or bog garden plant, it requires a moist or wet loamy soil in a sunny position[]. Grows best in a rich soil[]. Prefers shallow, still or slowly flowing water up to 30 - 60cm deep[]. Prefers a pH in the range 6 - 7.5, tolerating 5.5 - 8.2[].
The plant requires at least a six month growing season in order to produce a crop[].
Average yields can be 12 - 15 tonnes per hectare[].
A polymorphic species, the sub-species Sagittaria trifolia leucopetala is the form extensively cultivated for its edible tubers in China and other parts of Asia[, , , ].

Edible Uses

Root - cooked[, , , ]. Excellent when roasted, the taste is somewhat like potatoes. The tubers are starchy with a distinct flavour[]. The tubers should not be eaten raw[].The skin is rather bitter and is best removed after the tubers have been cooked[]. Tubers can also be dried and ground into a powder, this powder can be used as a gruel etc or be added to cereal flours and used in making bread[, ].The roots (tubers really) are borne on the ends of slender roots, often 30cm deep in the soil and some distance from the parent plant. The tubers of cultivated forms are about 10cm in diameter and are best harvested in the late summer as the leaves die down. The dried root contains (per 100g) 364 calories, 17g protein, 1g fat, 76.2g carbohydrate, 3.1g fibre, 5.8g ash, 44mg calcium, 561mg phosphorus, 8.8mg iron, 2,480mg potassium, 0.54mg thiamine, 0.14mg riboflavin, 4.76mg niacin and 17mg ascorbic acid. They contain no carotene[].

Leaves and young stems - cooked as a vegetable and added to rice dishes[, ]. Somewhat acrid.

Medicinal

The plant is antiscorbutic, diuretic[].

The leaf is used to treat a variety of skin problems[].

The tuber is discutient, galactofuge and may induce premature birth[].

Other Uses

None known

Propagation

Seed - best sown as soon as it is ripe in a pot standing in about 5cm of water. Prick out the seedlings into individual pots when they are large enough to handle, and gradually increase the depth of water as the plants grow until it is about 5cm above the top of the pot. Plant out when large enough.
Division of the tubers in spring or autumn. Easy.
Runners potted up at any time in the growing season.

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