A common name is "duck potato" because of the large potato-like corms which can form underground.

[4] The plant is conspicuous for its large, lance-shaped leaves which grow up from underground rhizomes and its showy, white three-petaled flowers which form at the end of long, thick stalks.

[5] The plant likes to grow in fresh or brackish water and is commonly found in ditches, marshes, swamps and along the shores of lakes and streams.

[4] Sagittaria lancifolia reproduces both asexually through spreading rhizomes and sexually through reproduction of copious achenes, a dry fruit each of which carries a single seed.

Field studies suggest that, although the application and burning of South Louisiana Crude oil on Sagittaria l. plants in plots of fresh Louisiana marsh land had short term negative effects on the growth rate of Sagittaria l., over time plant recovery was just as rapid as in the plots where the plants were oiled but not burned.