W is for Wapato

W is for Wapato

August 31, 2019 by · 11 Comments

Searching for the native plant, Sagittaria latifolia or wapato, brought some unexpected adventures, like multiple kayaking trips, slogging through the mud, and pelican sightings!

Wapato is a tuber that grows in shallow wetlands. In one of my searches this spring, I found this stand of newly emerging leaves. The leaves get broader as the summer progresses, and as I found out later, it doesn’t bloom until August.
Seeing this graceful egret taking flight made up for being too early to see wapato blossoms on this trip.
Later in the summer, the lake had receded but the leaves had matured and the crisp white blossoms had appeared. Since the lake is so shallow, I had to climb out of the kayak about 200 feet from shore and wade through the mud–it was slow going since my feet felt like lead because they kept sinking down into the goo.
Wapato, or Sagittaria latifolia, growing amongst the reeds.
An unexpected delight was seeing this pod of pelicans–there were hundreds lazily basking in the sun together.
The only pelican movement was an occasional yawn…and believe me, a pelican yawn is quite impressive! We paddled very slowly and quietly so as not to disturb their group nap.
This is the result of my wapato search–an illustration for the letter “W”. I will reveal the reason for this project later. I would love to do a more detailed illustration some day and include the tubers, which were an important food source for native peoples.
Filed Under: Botanical, Native Plants Tagged With: , , ,

Comments

  1. Jean Mikulla says
    August 31, 2019 at 5:14 pm

    What a great adventure! Love you painting, I appreciate you sharing.

    Reply
  2. Carol Maurer says
    August 31, 2019 at 6:00 pm

    You are an adventurous artist, searching for the native plants in their natural habitat. What a beautiful plant. Can’t wait to see your next painting with the tubers.

    Reply
    • jswalkky says
      August 31, 2019 at 9:19 pm

      Thanks, Carol! Plants take us to such interesting places and open a door to history. Now that I found the wapato and felt the mud in my toes, I can vividly imagine the native women wading through the same lake to harvest tubers for their dinner, long ago.

      Reply
  3. Kip Nordstrom says
    August 31, 2019 at 8:00 pm

    Oh Janene, what a great adventure. Much more fun than my foray into my letter N for Nasturtian. I had to grow mine and then wait for it to flower. All in all a fun adventure to do this project. Three cheers for OBA and the twists and turns we take following our hearts, and the insights it gives us as artists.

    Reply
  4. Dorota says
    September 1, 2019 at 3:55 pm

    Wow Janene! That is quite a sacrifice to search for the plant in its habitat. Love reading the story behind the creation. Thank you for sharing.

    Reply
  5. Angela Cox says
    September 2, 2019 at 6:49 am

    Lovely painting, and I can’t wait to see the rest of the alphabet!

    Reply
    • jswalkky says
      September 2, 2019 at 6:23 pm

      Thanks so much, Angela! This is a group (Oregon Botanical Artists) project so other people are doing the rest of the letters, but it would be fun to go through the alphabet sometime!

      Reply
  6. Alyse Lansing says
    September 2, 2019 at 7:56 pm

    Wonderful, Janene! Enjoyed seeing an extended part of their life cycle, since you went out the earlier time too. I didn’t know their leaf shape started out narrower. I hope you do get to paint the tuber some day. I’m not likely to see that either, unless you do, or…unless I can find it to purchase and put in my new water trough! Beautiful illustration with the blue letter going through.

    Reply
    • jswalkky says
      September 26, 2019 at 8:39 pm

      Alyse, Thank you for your comment! I am trying to grow a Wapato plant and if I get some tubers, I will let you know for sure. If they are available through a native plant nursery, I would love to see what they look like too. It would be so fun for you to have some in your water trough. Those leaves…and flowers…are really beautiful!

      Reply

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