(click picture) Duck potatoes or arrowhead, Sagittaria latifolia Willd. (Family: Alismataceae) are harvested in the spring, winter and fall.
Wapato, the Native American name for duck potato or arrowhead, can be distinguished from the inedible arrow arum (below right) by examining the veins and shape of the leaves. (More)

Below:  Note the differences between Wapato or duck potato leaf  below left and toxic arrow arum leaf below right.

(More food medicine)

 

         Look alike above:  Poisonous Arrow Arum
Native American Food: Duck potatoes may be peeled and eaten raw or boiled and eaten like a potato.  Also, boiled, dried and pounded to flour.  Flour used to make flat bread or cooked in soups as a starch source and thickener. Often cooked with game or fish as food (starch and protein).

Native American Medicine: Root:  said to be eaten as a digestive aid; root pounded and used as a poultice over wounds, boils.   Whole Plant:  Used in infusion as a children's sleep aid; to treat arthritis;  decoction to treat gonorrhea; to treat constipation. Leaves: Infusion used to wash children, babies to reduce fever 

Duck potatoes torn free from the bottom with a pitch fork, in about 6 inches of water.