Peltandra virginica
Green Arrow Arum
a perennial member of the Peltandra genus in the family Araceae.
Taxonomy and growth
Uses
Toxicity
Toxicity warning. The historical record reports a hazard for this plant. Do not use it to decide which parts are safe to eat or use medicinally.
This section contains historical Plants For A Future notes marked noncommercial.
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[12].
Edible uses
This section contains historical Plants For A Future notes marked noncommercial.
Seed - cooked. A slightly sweetish flavour, resembling parched corn[4]. A bread can be made from the dried and powdered seeds, it tastes like corncake with a strong flavour of cocoa[4]. Spadix (the flowering stem) and berries - cooked[5][9][11][2]. A great delicacy, but they must be very well cooked otherwise they are poisonous[7]. The Indians would boil them for 9 hours[7]. Root - must be well cooked in order to destroy an acrimonious principle, see the notes above on toxicity[12]. The root is rich in starch[5][9][10][11][2] and can weigh up to 2.7 kilos[12]. It is highly astringent and has an unpleasant flavour[3]. The root can be dried and ground into a powder for use when making bread, soups etc[7].
- Plant part
- Flowers
- Plant part
- Root
- Plant part
- Seed
Environment
- Range
- Eastern N. America - Maine to Ontario, Michigan, Florida, Louisiana and Missouri.
- Light
- full sun
- Shade tolerance
- no shade
- Water
- aquatic
- Hardiness
- Zone 5+
- Soil textures
- sandy, loamy, clay
- Soil pH
- acid, neutral
- Tolerates Nutritionally Poor Soil
- No
- Drought
- intolerant
Propagation
This section contains historical Plants For A Future notes marked noncommercial.
Seed - best sown as soon as it is ripe in late summer in pots of soil that are submerged to their rims in water[6]. 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[6]. 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[6].
Cultivation
This section contains historical Plants For A Future notes marked noncommercial.
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[6]. Plants are best grown in clumps[1].
References
F. Chittendon. RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 Oxford University Press 1951-00-00
Tanaka. T. Tanaka's Cyclopaedia of Edible Plants of the World. Keigaku Publishing 1976-00-00
McPherson. A. and S. Wild Food Plants of Indiana. Indiana University Press 1977-00-00 ISBN 0-253-28925-4
Facciola. S. Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications 1990-00-00 ISBN 0-9628087-0-9
Hedrick. U. P. Sturtevant's Edible Plants of the World. Dover Publications 1972-00-00 ISBN 0-486-20459-6
Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992-00-00 ISBN 0-333-47494-5
Coffey. T. The History and Folklore of North American Wild Flowers. Facts on File. 1993-00-00 ISBN 0-8160-2624-6
Fernald. M. L. Gray's Manual of Botany. American Book Co. 1950-00-00
Uphof. J. C. Th. Dictionary of Economic Plants. Weinheim 1959-00-00
Schery. R. W. Plants for Man.
Usher. G. A Dictionary of Plants Used by Man. Constable 1974-00-00 ISBN 0094579202
Saunders. C. F. Edible and Useful Wild Plants of the United States and Canada. Dover Publications 1976-00-00 ISBN 0-486-23310-3