''Sagittaria guayanensis'', the Guyanese arrowhead, is a perennial

aquatic plant Aquatic plants, also referred to as hydrophytes, are vascular plants and Non-vascular plant, non-vascular plants that have adapted to live in aquatic ecosystem, aquatic environments (marine ecosystem, saltwater or freshwater ecosystem, freshwater ...

species native to both the Old and New World. It has broadly

hastate The following terms are used to describe leaf plant morphology, morphology in the description and taxonomy (biology), taxonomy of plants. Leaves may be simple (that is, the leaf blade or 'lamina' is undivided) or compound (that is, the leaf blade ...

(arrow-shaped) leaves with ovate lobes. The epithet has incorrectly been spelled "''guyanensis''" by some authors. The type locale is not

Guyana Guyana, officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern coast of South America, part of the historic British West Indies. entry "Guyana" Georgetown, Guyana, Georgetown is the capital of Guyana and is also the co ...

but rather in the Guayana region in what is now eastern

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

, regarded as part of

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

when the specimen was collected. It is predominantly tropical, native to Mexico, Central America, the

West Indies The West Indies is an island subregion of the Americas, surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, which comprises 13 independent island country, island countries and 19 dependent territory, dependencies in thr ...

, and much of South America, as well as West Africa (from

Senegal Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is the westernmost country in West Africa, situated on the Atlantic Ocean coastline. It borders Mauritania to Mauritania–Senegal border, the north, Mali to Mali–Senegal border, the east, Guinea t ...

Cameroon Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It shares boundaries with Nigeria to the west and north, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the R ...

), south and southeast Asia (from Afghanistan to

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

), plus

Sudan Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northeast Africa. It borders the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Libya to the northwest, Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the east, Eritrea and Ethiopi ...

and

Madagascar Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, is an island country that includes the island of Madagascar and numerous smaller peripheral islands. Lying off the southeastern coast of Africa, it is the world's List of islands by area, f ...

. It was unknown in the United States until a few populations were reported from

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

in 1969.Thieret, J. W. 1969. ''Sagittaria guayanensis'' (Alismaceae) in Louisiana: New to the United States. Sida 3: 445.

References

External links

photo of herbarium specimen at Missouri Botanical Garden, ''Sagittaria guayanensis'' collected in NicaraguaFlora of Pakistan ''Sagittaria guayanensis''
* ttp://www.westafricanplants.senckenberg.de/root/index.php?page_id=14&id=1378 West African Plants, a photo guide, ''Sagittaria guayanensis'' br>Plantes des Rizieres de Guyane, Cirad, ''Sagittaria guayanensis''
{{Taxonbar, from=Q15601363 guayanensis Flora of Mexico Flora of Southern America Flora of West Tropical Africa Flora of Sudan Flora of Madagascar Flora of China Flora of Afghanistan Flora of tropical Asia Plants described in 1816