Family: Arrowroot (Marantaceae)

Description: Colonial, herbaceous perennial from 6-9 feet tall with long petioles toppd by broad, lanceolate leaf blades. The leaf blades reach 3 feet long and 1 foot wide and are held at an angle atop the petiole. The bixexual flowers have 3 purple petals, 3 small sepals, and hang in pairs on zigzagging stems.

Blooms: May to November

Found: Freshwater wetlands of Florida.

Note: When alligators move through thickets of this plant, the leaves wave back and forth, giving rise to another common name, Alligator Flag. The pollination of the flowers is interesting. Pollen is deposited on the style and when an insect touches it, it explodes to an erect position in just a few hundredths of a second. The insect then scrapes pollen on the stigma and also receives new pollen. The larvae of the Brazilian Skipper butter and the stinging caterpillars of the Io moth and Saddleback moths eat the leaves.