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| Photo by Robert Mohlenbrock* |
Britton and Brown. See
credits below.** |
| Botanical name: |
Peltandra virginica (L.) Schott |
| Common
name: |
Arrow arum, Tuckahoe
|
| Synonomy: |
Peltandra tharpii F.A. Barkley |
| Group: |
Monocot
|
| Family: |
Araceae |
| Growth
Type: |
Forb/herb
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| Duration: |
Perennial bulb
|
| Origin: | Native |
| Plant
height: |
1-2'
|
| Foliage: |
bright
green, smooth, succulent leaves, arrow shaped, 10-12" long, 3-8" wide,
whitish underside, with three prominent veins with an abrupt, sharp tip
|
| Flower: |
Monoecious, with both male and female parts in a 4-8" partially closed green spathe
|
| Flowering/fruiting time: |
Blooms
May to July.; green fruit is up to 1/2" long, with one seed, and is
floatable. Upon separation from the stem, the fruit turns black (USDA).
|
| Habitat: |
Growing
in water along the edges of all the rivers and tributary streams of the
state; along the muddy shores of the Delaware and the tidewater creeks
below Philadelphia (Stone, p. 315) |
| Range
in
New Jersey: |
throughout the state |
| Heritage ranking if any: |
n/a |
| Distribution: |
|
| Misc.: |
Peltandra is an obligate wetland plant, that is, occurs almost always (estimated probability 99%) under
natural conditions in wetlands.
"The
flower, which resembles a very slender green calla lily, raises itself
among the leaf stems for a short time, and then, as the seed develops,
the stalk curves downward, drawiing the pod beneath the water and
burying it in the soft mud" (Stone, 315).
Pelte, Greek "a small shield", and aner, "stamen, in the shape of".
According to the USDA,
the fruit is a preferred food of wood ducks, and is also eaten by
muskrats and rails. It also provides cover to waterfowl, wading birds,
insects, and aquatic mammals. The foliage contains calcium oxalate,
which is toxic. Peltandra (tuckahoe, or "tockawhough") was eaten by the
Native Americans, as the calcium oxalate can be destroyed by long
cooking or heating and drying. It was used as a starch, for
breads and soups. (Killer plants website)
The flower is pollinated by a "chloropid fly, Elachiptera formosa" (Eflora)
Captn.
John Smith, of the Virginia Indians in 1612: "The chief roote they have
for food is called Tockawhough. It groweth like a flagge in low muddy
freshes. In one day a Savage will gather sufficient for a weeke. These
rootes are much of the greatness and taste of Potatoes. They use to
cover a great many of them with oke leaves and ferne, and then cover
all with earth in the manner of a colepit; over it, on each side they
continue a great fire 24 hours before they dare eat it. Raw it is no
better than poison, and being roasted, except it be tender and the heat
abated, or sliced and dried in the sun, mixed with sorrell and meale or
such like, it will prickle and grate the throat extreamely, and yet in
sommer they use it ordinarily for bread." (Description of Virginia and
proceeds of the colony. Oxford. 1512. Included in the narratives of
Early Virginia, ed. Tyler 1959 New York.)
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Sources
* Photo by Robert H. Mohlenbrock @ USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / USDA SCS. 1991. Southern wetland flora: Field office guide to plant species. South National Technical Center, Fort Worth.
**USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913. An illustrated flora of the northern United States, Canada and the British Possessions. Vol. 1: 444.
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