Exotic Wild Flowers

 Arrowhead Plant

Flowering
Sagittaria latifolia
Common arrowhead, is a perennial aquatic plant in the Alismataceae (water plantain) family. The common names of duck potato and wapato for this plant refers to the rounded starchy golf ball-sized tubers that form at the ends of underground plant runners (rhizomes). Flowers bloom from July to September. Found in shallow water in lakes, ponds, tidal marshes, rivers, streams, and wetland margins. The tubers of the arrowheads are edible when roasted or boiled. They were important food sources of indigenous peoples and in some areas are still valued as a great food source. Tubers are typically roasted. Though the skin is edible arrowhead tubers are more palatable when peeled. The best time for collecting tubers is in fall or early spring. Tubers are high in starch and phosphorous.

 Bittersweet Nightshade
Such cool looking flowers.
This plant is toxic to people, pets, and livestock.

Bottleneck Gentian 

The corolla remains closed at the top even when the flower is ready to receive pollinating insects. Bumblebees are the primary pollinators of the flowers, as they are one of the few insects that can force their way past the closed corolla. Some gentians are used in herbal medicine as an anti-inflammatory, to lower fevers, and as a liver tonic. It is also used as a gastric stimulant to treat a loss of appetite, digestive problems, flatulence, and insufficient production of gastric juices and saliva.

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Disclaimer

My blog is meant to inform and I strive to be totally accurate. It is solely up to the reader to ensure proper plant identification. Some wild plants are poisonous or can have serious adverse health effects.