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Alismataceae FAMILY

Sagittaria graminea

Sagittaria graminea

Edibility
1/5
Medicinal
0/5

Safety & Hazards

None known

Cultivation Details

HabitAnnual/Perennial
Growth—

A pond or bog garden plant, it requires a moist or wet loamy soil in a sunny position[1, 2]. Prefers shallow, still or slowly flowing water up to 30 - 60cm deep. The edible roots are commonly found in Chinese markets[3]. There is some confusion over this name. The report that this plant is edible gives the name as S. sinensis and its range as Asia. However, the RHS Dictionary of Gardening says that S. sinensis is a synonym of S. graminea and that its range is Eastern N. America[2], whilst other reports say that it is a synonym of S. sagittifolia or S. trifolia[4]. The Flora of N. America says that S. graminea does not produce corms but has coarse rhizomes[5], which suggests that the report of edibility does not really belong here[PFAF].

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 in late spring or early summer of the following year. Division of the tubers in spring or autumn. Easy. Runners potted up at any time in the growing season. Cite as: Temperate Plants Database, Ken Fern. temperate.theferns.info. 2026-02-21. <temperate.theferns.info/plant/Sagittaria+graminea>

Pollinators

Insects

References

  1. [1]RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 — F. Chittendon. · Oxford University Press · 1951 · ISBN - ↩︎Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaced in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [ 200 ]).
  2. [2]The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. — Huxley. A. · MacMillan Press · 1992 · ISBN 0-333-47494-5 ↩︎Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.
  3. [3]Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. — Facciola. S. · Kampong Publications · 1990 · ISBN 0-9628087-0-9 ↩︎Excellent. Contains a very wide range of conventional and unconventional food plants (including tropical) and where they can be obtained (mainly N. American nurseries but also research institutes and a lot of other nurseries from around the world.
  4. [4]Flora of China — Missouri Botanical Garden Press; St. Louis. · 1994 · http://flora.huh.harvard.edu/china/ ↩︎An excellent, comprehensive resource in 25 volumes. In addition to the botanical information the flora also gives basic information on habitat and some uses. An on-line version is also available.
  5. [5]Flora of N. America — http://flora.huh.harvard.edu/fna/ ↩︎An on-line version of the flora with an excellent description of the plant including a brief mention of plant uses.
  6. [6]Flora of Canada — Livingstone. B. · National Museums of Canada · 1978 · ISBN 0-660-00025-3 ↩︎In 4 volumes, it does not deal with plant uses but gives descriptions and habitats.
  7. [PFAF]Plants for a Future — pfaf.org ↩︎