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Peltandra virginica - (L.)Schott.

Green Arrow Arum

Author	(L.)Schott.	Botanical references	43, 200
Family	Araceae	Genus	Peltandra
Synonyms	Arum virginicum - L. Peltandra undulata - Raf.
Known Hazards	The plant is rich in calcium oxylate, this is toxic and if consumed makes the mouth and digestive tract feel as though hundreds of tiny needles are being stuck into it. However, calcium oxylate is easily destroyed by thoroughly cooking or drying the plant[95].
Range	Eastern N. America - Maine to Ontario, Michigan, Florida, Louisiana and Missouri.
Habitat	Swamps, borders of ponds and slow streams[1, 43].
Edibility Rating	3 (1-5)	Medicinal Rating	0 (1-5)

Physical Characteristics

Perennial growing to 0.3m.

The plant prefers light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils. The plant prefers acid and neutral soils. It cannot grow in the shade. It requires wet soil and can grow in water.

Habitats

Pond; Bog Garden;

Edible Uses

Edible Parts: Flowers; Root; Seed.

Seed - cooked. A slightly sweetish flavour, resembling parched corn[183]. A bread can be made from the dried and powdered seeds, it tastes like corncake with a strong flavour of cocoa[183]. Spadix (the flowering stem) and berries - cooked[2, 46, 61, 105]. A great delicacy, but they must be very well cooked otherwise they are poisonous[207]. The Indians would boil them for 9 hours[207]. Root - must be well cooked in order to destroy an acrimonious principle, see the notes above on toxicity[95]. The root is rich in starch[2, 46, 57, 61, 105] and can weigh up to 2.7 kilos[95]. It is highly astringent and has an unpleasant flavour[159]. The root can be dried and ground into a powder for use when making bread, soups etc[207].

Medicinal Uses

Plants For A Future can not take any responsibility for any adverse effects from the use of plants. Always seek advice from a professional before using a plant medicinally.

None known

Other Uses

None known

Cultivation details

Requires a wet lime-free humus-rich soil by the side of water or in shallow still or slowly flowing water in a sunny position[200]. Plants are best grown in clumps[1].

Propagation

Seed - best sown as soon as it is ripe in late summer in pots of soil that are submerged to their rims in water[200]. When they are large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and grow them on in trays of water in the greenhouse for their first winter. Plant them out into their permanent positions in late spring or early summer, after the last expected frosts. Division in spring[200]. Larger divisions can be planted out direct into their permanent positions. We have found that it is better to pot up the smaller divisions and grow them on in light shade in a cold frame until they are well established before planting them out in late spring or early summer. Stem cuttings rooted in wet mud in the summer[200].

Links

This plant is also mentioned in the following PFAF articles: The Edible Pond and Bog Garden.

References

[1] F. Chittendon. RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 Oxford University Press 1951
Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaces in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [200]).

[2] Hedrick. U. P. Sturtevant's Edible Plants of the World. Dover Publications 1972 ISBN 0-486-20459-6
Lots of entries, quite a lot of information in most entries and references.

[43] Fernald. M. L. Gray's Manual of Botany. American Book Co. 1950
A bit dated but good and concise flora of the eastern part of N. America.

[46] Uphof. J. C. Th. Dictionary of Economic Plants. Weinheim 1959
An excellent and very comprehensive guide but it only gives very short descriptions of the uses without any details of how to utilize the plants. Not for the casual reader.

[57] Schery. R. W. Plants for Man. 0
Fairly readable but not very comprehensive. Deals with plants from around the world.

[61] Usher. G. A Dictionary of Plants Used by Man. Constable 1974 ISBN 0094579202
Forget the sexist title, this is one of the best books on the subject. Lists a very extensive range of useful plants from around the world with very brief details of the uses. Not for the casual reader.

[95] Saunders. C. F. Edible and Useful Wild Plants of the United States and Canada. Dover Publications 1976 ISBN 0-486-23310-3
Useful wild plants of America. A pocket guide.

[105] Tanaka. T. Tanaka's Cyclopaedia of Edible Plants of the World. Keigaku Publishing 1976
The most comprehensive guide to edible plants I've come across. Only the briefest entry for each species, though, and some of the entries are more than a little dubious. Not for the casual reader.

[159] McPherson. A. and S. Wild Food Plants of Indiana. Indiana University Press 1977 ISBN 0-253-28925-4
A nice pocket guide to this region of America.

[183] Facciola. S. Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. 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.

[200] Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. 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.

[207] Coffey. T. The History and Folklore of North American Wild Flowers. Facts on File. 1993 ISBN 0-8160-2624-6
A nice read, lots of information on plant uses.

Readers Comments

Plants for a Future does not verify the accuracy of reader comments, use at your own risk. In particular Plants For A Future can not take any responsibility for any adverse effects from the use of plants. You should always consult a professional before using plants medicinally.

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