Medicinal Monday... Bulltongue Arrowhead

A member of the Sagittaria family, Bulltongue Arrowhead is an aquatic plant that grows in swampy ground or standing water in ponds, lakes, and streams. The tubers of this plant were a source of food for many Native American communities. It was also used medicinally and, as a love charm by the Thompson.

About Bulltongue Arrowhead

This plant, commonly found in the southeastern United States is distinguished by its large, lance-shaped leaves which grow from underground rhizomes. it can be found in every coastal state from Delaware to Texas and is considered native to Mexico Central America, and the West Indies. It is found in swampy areas, marshes, and along the shores of lakes, ponds, and streams. Flowers form at the end of thick stalks and are white and showy with three green sepals, three white or pink-tinged petals, and six stamens and pistils. The fruit of the plant is achene, a dry fruit produced by the flower that contains one seed that is dispersed by the wind or animals. The plant also spreads by its rhizomes.

Culinary and Medicinal Uses

Bulltongue Arrowhead was used as a source of food by many Native American tribes. For example. those living on Lake Okeechobee would locate and harvest the corms in the late summer and fall. They would pull plants from their canoes or wade into shallow waters and loosen the roots with their toes. As the roots rose to the top of the water, the corms were gathered and collected into floating baskets. Corms were baked in embers, boiled, or roasted in the ashes. They were then skinned and eaten whole or mashed. The Potawatomi mixed the boiled corms with deer meat and maple syrup. Because this plant was a favorite of ducks, many Native American communities planted them to attract these birds.

Medicinally, the most common use of the plant was to bathe a baby with a fever in an infusion of leaves to bring the fever down. The Seminole used a poultice of this plant to treat alligator bites and the Chippewa made an infusion of the root to treat indigestion. The Iroquois took an infusion of this plant to treat rheumatism and they also used it to treat boils and skin irritations. The Potawatomi made a poultice of ground corms and applied them to wounds and sores.

Did You Know...

Other names for this plant are duck potatoes and lance leaf arrowhead.

In Jamaica, Bulltongue Arrowhead was used to treat wounds, and in Cuba and Haiti, the roots were used to treat toothaches.

In Panama, the crushed leaves were used to treat sores, wounds, and insect bites.

This plant can tolerate brackish water but not salt water.

It is the most common arrowhead found in eastern North America.