Green Arrow-arum
Peltandra virginica
Found in marshes, bogs, beaver ponds, pocosins, other stagnant, aquatic situations, freshwater to oligohaline tidal marshes. FloraQuest, phone app (app page) What its natural habitat tells you
Native to Virginia. How scores work Is it native here?
Profile 82%
- Height
- 1.5–3 feet
- Spread
- 1.5–2 feet
- Light
- Deep shade, Full sun, Partial shade
- Soil moisture
- Moist to standing water
Space about 2 ft apart from its recorded spread, about 25 per 100 sq ft. Enter your bed size for a count
Will it fit your yard?
At a glance
- Life cycle
- Perennial
- Bloom
- May to June
- Fruiting season
- Spring to fall
Not yet recorded · Leaves
Recorded in 64 Virginia counties.
Natural habitats
Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.


Open, herb-covered wetlands with fresh, non-tidal water.
Coastal tidal marshes (salinity not stated)
Tidal marshes of the Atlantic and Gulf coasts where the source does not say whether the water is fresh, brackish or salt. A stated salinity files the marsh under freshwater tidal marshes or salt and brackish marshes instead.
Also found with this plant
Wildlife whose habitat models include habitats this plant grows in, in Virginia. Shared habitat, not food. 196 animals.
- American GoldfinchCarduelis tristis
- Bald EagleHaliaeetus leucocephalus
- Blue JayCyanocitta cristata
- Blue-gray GnatcatcherPolioptila caerulea
- Canada GooseBranta canadensis
- Common GrackleQuiscalus quiscula
- Double-crested CormorantPhalacrocorax auritus
- Fish CrowCorvus ossifragus
- Gray CatbirdDumetella carolinensis
- MallardAnas platyrhynchos
- Mourning DoveZenaida macroura
- Northern CardinalCardinalis cardinalis
- Northern MockingbirdMimus polyglottos
- Red-tailed HawkButeo jamaicensis
- Red-winged BlackbirdAgelaius phoeniceus
- Swamp SparrowMelospiza georgiana
- Tree SwallowTachycineta bicolor
- Tufted TitmouseBaeolophus bicolor
- Yellow-rumped WarblerDendroica coronata
- Acadian FlycatcherEmpidonax virescens
- American KestrelFalco sparverius
- Black-and-White WarblerMniotilta varia
- Blue GrosbeakPasserina caerulea
- Brown CreeperCerthia americana
Who uses this plant?
No records yet · Ants · Beetles · Flies · Adult butterflies / moths · Other wasps · Other insects
Plant details
- Family
- Araceae
- Hardiness
- Zones 5a–9b
- Soil pH
- Acidic
- Flower color
- Yellow or white
- Growth rate
- Slow
- Growth habit
- Grows in clumps
- Foliage color
- Green
- Fruit begins
- Spring
- Fruit ends
- Fall
Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.
Growing sources and scope
- Bloom · “May to June” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) (ranked first; USDA PLANTS differs) · Carolinas and Georgia
- Flower color · “Yellow or white” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; USDA PLANTS differs)
- Foliage color · “Green” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Fruit begins · “Spring” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Fruit ends · “Fall” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Growth habit · “Grows in clumps” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Growth rate · “Slow” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Hardiness · “Zones 5a–9b” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Height · “1.5–3 feet” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; Tennessee Smart Yards, USDA PLANTS differ)
- Life cycle · “Perennial” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Light · “Deep shade (less than 2 hours to no direct sunlight); Full sun (6 or more hours of direct sunlight a day); Partial shade (direct sunlight only part of the day, 2-6 hours)” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; Tennessee Smart Yards, Virginia DCR Piedmont, Virginia DCR Coastal Plain differ)
- Soil · “Frequent standing water; Moist; Occasionally wet” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; Tennessee Smart Yards, Virginia DCR Piedmont, Virginia DCR Coastal Plain differ)
- Soil pH · “Acidic” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Spread · “1.5–2 feet” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
Also known as
Green Arrow Arum; Tuckahoe
Conservation status
| Virginia rank | S5 |
|---|---|
| Global rank | G5 |
| VA status | Not verified |
| Federal status | Not verified |
Will it fit your yard?
Check this plant against your county, sun and soil moisture. Conditions are checked in your browser.
Growing cautions
- Spreads aggressively. Spreads rapidly by seed. Tennessee Smart Yards
For planning only; these do not change the score or Fit.
Sources
- Digital Atlas of the Virginia Flora
- USDA PLANTS
- Vascular Plants of North Carolina (NC Natural Heritage Program)
- NatureServe Explorer
- Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
- Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Smith, Bachelder, Russell, Morales, Mosher & Seltmann 2024, Bee-Specialization-Modeling v0.6.1 (specialist host table compiled from J. Fowler's pollen specialist bee lists), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Hurlbert, Olsen, Sawyer & Winner 2021, Avian Diet Database, Scientific Data 8: 260 (CC0)
- Narango, Tallamy & Shropshire 2020, Few keystone plant genera support the majority of Lepidoptera species, Nature Communications

























