Peltandra Virginica

''Peltandra virginica'' is a plant of the arum family known as green arrow arum and tuckahoe. It is widely distributed in wetlands in the eastern United States, as well as in Quebec, Ontario, and Cuba.Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
/ref>Whigham, Dennis F., Robert L. Simpson and Mary A. Leck. 1979. The Distribution of Seeds, Seedlings, and Established Plants of Arrow Arum (Peltandra virginica (L.) Kunth) in a Freshwater Tidal Wetland Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club 106: 193-199 It is common in central Florida including the Everglades and along the Gulf Coast. Its rhizomes are tolerant to low oxygen levels found in wetland soils. It can be found elsewhere in North America as an introduced species and often an invasive plant.

''P. virginica'' is a hydrophytic marshland aquatic plant pollinated by a chloropid fly through providing a brood site and releasing the pollen onto them. The primary dispersal mechanisms are via water and animals.

Description

This is an emergent perennial herb growing from a large rhizome and producing many large leaves. An individual leaf may have a petiole nearly a meter long and a blade half a meter in length. The leaves are quite variable in shape and size, but they are often generally arrowhead-shaped.

The inflorescence bears male and female flowers, as well as sterile flowers. The flower varies from whitish to greenish to yellow. The fruit is a brown berry containing a few seeds within a clear gelatinous pulp. Large number of seeds can accumulate in the soil of wetlands.

''Peltandra virginica'' is a marshland aquatic plant, growing in North America bogs, ponds, and marshes. The roots and base grow into the submerged substrate, and the leaves and inflorescences project up and out of the water. The roots form a perennial rhizome. Various forms of leaf blades have been observed, both in larger ranges and smaller individual populations. Petioles range from green to green-purple to purple with a medium green blade petiole lengths between 38 and 98 centimeters and blade length being between 9 and 57 centimeters. Lateral veins also have variable thicknesses. Inflorescences are generally pale green to white, being lighter within the spathe. Lengths for the inflorescence range between 7 and 25 centimeters with the spadix being about half the size to the full length of the spathe with greenish to white flowers, producing fruits that rot within the closed spathe. Fruits are pea green to mottled green and purple and range from 6 to 16 millimeters. In most of its range, it blooms from spring to late summer and fall and in warmer regions, it will bloom into the winter. It generally thrives in low salinity environments.

Taxonomy

Arrow arum, ''Peltandra virginica'', is a member of the arum family, Araceae, and is known by the names tuckahoe, green arrow arum, and peltandre.
It was first identified as "tockowhough" by William Strachey, Secretary of the Colony of Virginia in 1611, in his book ''The Historie of Travaile Into Virginia Britannia''. He describes its starchy root as a primary food source of the Powhatan Indians which they gathered from the marshes of Virginia. It was originally described as ''Arum virginicum'' by Carl Linnaeus in 1753 and has also been placed in the genera '' Alocasia'', '' Caladium'', '' Calla'', '' Lecontia'', and '' Rensselaeria''. Other synonyms include ''Peltandra luteospadix'' and ''P. tharpii''.

In the eastern United States and Canada where ''Peltandra virginica'' resides, one other ''Peltandra'' species exists, '' P. sagittifolia''. ''P. virginica'' can be distinguished from the other extant taxon of ''Peltandra'' by the variation in leaf form, average greater size in non-reproductive structures, and the difference in color of the fruit. The fruit of ''P. sagittifolia'' is red with a white spathe, and the fruit of ''P. virginica'' are green to purple with a green to yellow green spathe.

Distribution and habitat

''Peltandra virginica'' is a native to North America; its range spans the entire eastern coast of the United States and goes as far west as Texas. It is also naturalized in areas of California up to Oregon and is present in eastern regions of Canada. It mostly inhabits the wetlands and swamps, including marshes and bogs.

Conservation

Based on the Red List of Threatened Species 2016, ''P. virginica'' is a taxon of Least Concern, this is because of its broad range in eastern and central North America. In some areas within the range of ''P. virginica'' the populations are diminishing. It has also been found in California. While common in most of its range, ''P. virginica'' is listed as Endangered in Iowa.

Pollination biology

In the pistillate stage the spadix of ''P. virginica'' is entirely covered by the spathe, not allowing insects to pollinate female flowers. Pollination is achieved by the plant's utilizing brood-site-based pollination. The chloropid fly '' Elachiptera formosa'' forms a symbiotic relationship with the inflorescence. The flies are attracted to the odor of the male flowers in an inflorescence's staminate stage where they feed on pollen and mate then find oviposition sites, followed by the development of the larvae and maturity of the flies.

Ethnobotany

The plant contains calcium oxalate crystals, making it unpalatable. Indigenous peoples of the Americas used most parts of the plant for food, however, cooking it for hours first to make it safe to eat.

Historical accounts suggest that Native Americans may have used ''Peltandra virginica'' as a food source. They may have eaten the seeds and fruits as well as the leaves and roots. The section of ''P. virginica''s range where its populations are highest, from Pennsylvania to coastal Virginia, are where it was most likely used for food. In other times and places, it has been used as an ornamental plant and to stabilize sediments in small bodies of water.

Wildlife

''Peltandra virginica'' is considered a low percentage of various animals' food sources. ''Peltandra virginica'' makes up 5–10% of the diet of small mammals that reside within its range and 10–25% of the diet of water birds that share its range.

Toxicity

The non-reproductive structures of ''Peltandra virginica'' are known to contain calcium oxalate crystals, that can irritate the gastrointestinal system of animals and people and has been linked to the development of kidney stones.

References

External links

Jepson Manual TreatmentInformation
from the Center for Aquatic and Invasive Plants of the University of Florida.

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Aroideae
Freshwater plants
Flora of Cuba
Plants described in 1753
Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus
Flora of Northern America