How to Identify Velvet Arrowroot

1. Blades

The leaves of velvet arrowroot are 6-20, oblong-lanceolate, about 45 cm long and 16 cm wide. The leaf tip is blunt and gradually becomes pointed at the base. The leaf surface is dark green with yellow-green stripes in the middle. The back of the leaf is light gray-green at first, and becomes light purple-red when old, and is hairless on both sides. Petiole about 45 cm.

2. Flowers

The velvet arrowroot has an ovate inflorescence head, similar in size to a goose egg, growing alone on a stalk of varying lengths. The bracts are broadly ovate and arranged in a shingle-like pattern. The smaller bracts are linear and the sepals are oblong. The color of the corolla is violet or white, the lobes are oblong-lanceolate, and the stamens become obovate-oblong after the outer whorl degenerates. The color is light purple cocoon. The flowering period is from May to June.