Status: Federally endangered.
Project lead: Jeff Beacham
Sagittaria fasciculata, known as bunched arrowhead, is a small herbaceous plant that grows in wetlands. It’s the only member of the Sagittaria genus that doesn’t have arrowhead-shaped leaves. It grows about 15 inches tall and blooms mid-May through July.
The bunched arrowhead only grows in seepage soils, particularly in the Piedmont seepage forest ecosystem. This habitat has been largely destroyed due to development and agriculture. Today it exists in a few places in Greenville County, including Furman University’s campus and several locations in Traveler’s Rest. The largest populations are in the Enoree, South Tyger, and Reedy River watersheds.
Bunched arrowheads are protected at the Blackwell Heritage Preserve, the Bunched Arrowhead Heritage Preserve, and on Furman University’s campus (under a 1981 agreement between Furman and the SCDNR Heritage Trust Program). Several other populations are being monitored and efforts are being made to protect them.
The Furman population was thriving in May, 2018:
Links
Raleigh Ecological Services Office
Bunch, Tom, and Katherine Karr Schlosser. Management Considerations for the Restoration of Bunched Arrowhead Sagittaria Fasciculata, Natural Areas Journal 33(1):105-108. 2013
Dripps, Weston, et al. Hydrogeochemical Characterization of Headwater Seepages Inhabited by the Endangered Bunched Arrowhead (Sagittaria fasciculata) in the Upper Piedmont of South Carolina. Southeastern Naturalist 12(3):619-637. 2013
