arrowhead vs Common Kidney-Vetch

Sagittaria sagittifolia compared with Anthyllis vulneraria

Key Differences

• arrowhead is Least Concern while Common Kidney-Vetch is Vulnerable.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	arrowhead	Common Kidney-Vetch
Kingdom same	Plantae (Plants)	Plantae (Plants)
Phylum same	Magnoliophyta (Flowering Plants)	Magnoliophyta (Flowering Plants)
Class	Liliopsida (Monocots)	Magnoliopsida (Dicots)
Order	Alismatales (Alismatales)	Fabales (Legumes & Allies)
Family	Alismataceae	Fabaceae
Genus	Sagittaria	Anthyllis
Species	Sagittaria sagittifolia	Anthyllis vulneraria

Evolutionary Relationship

arrowhead and Common Kidney-Vetch share a common ancestor at the Phylum level: Magnoliophyta. (Flowering Plants)

Conservation Status

arrowhead

LC — Least Concern

Common Kidney-Vetch

VU — Vulnerable

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	arrowhead	Common Kidney-Vetch
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

arrowhead

Habitat

Inhabits tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests and tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests within the Oceanian biogeographic realm.

Range

Widely distributed across Asia (India), Europe (7 countries), North America (Mexico), and Oceania and the Pacific (Australia, Fiji).

Common Kidney-Vetch

Habitat

Found across multiple habitat types including tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, temperate broadleaf and mixed forests, and temperate coniferous forests, among 6 distinct biome types spanning the Indomalayan and Oceanian and Palearctic realms. Populations are also found in montane and highland environments at higher elevations.

Range

Widely distributed across Africa (Libya), Asia (Japan), Europe (9 countries), North America (Canada, United States), and Oceania and the Pacific (Australia). Currently classified as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, this species faces significant conservation challenges across its range.

arrowhead

The Arrowhead, Sagittaria sagittifolia, is a species. It is currently assessed as least concern on the IUCN Red List. Inhabits tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests and tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests within the Oceanian biogeographic realm.

Common Kidney-Vetch

Common Kidney-Vetch (<em>Anthyllis vulneraria</em>) is a flowering plant in the legume family Fabaceae, assessed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List due to habitat degradation and agricultural intensification across parts of its range. It is widely distributed across Africa (Libya), Asia (Japan), Europe (nine countries), North America (Canada and the United States), and Oceania (Australia), occupying six distinct biome types and occurring within the Indomalayan and Oceanian biogeographic realms. The species typically grows in dry, calcareous grasslands, coastal cliffs, sand dunes, and rocky slopes, often favoring nutrient-poor soils. It is an important larval food plant for certain butterfly species, particularly the Small Blue butterfly in Europe, and contributes to soil fertility through nitrogen fixation via root nodules. Its cheerful yellow, orange, or red flower heads make it a recognizable component of chalk and limestone grassland communities. Biological traits of this species remain poorly documented in the scientific literature.

Shared Countries

Both species can be found in 7 countries:

🇦🇺 Australia 🇧🇪 Belgium 🇩🇰 Denmark 🇫🇮 Finland 🇫🇷 France 🇳🇴 Norway 🇸🇪 Sweden