Sparganium americanum (Bur reed)

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Sparganium americanum Nutt.

Bur reed

Kingdom	Plantae	Plants, but not fungi, lichens, or algae
Subkingdom	Tracheobionta	Vascular plants—plants with a “circulatory system” for delivering water and nutrients
Division	Magnoliophyta	Flowering plants, also known as angiosperms
Class	Liliopsida	Monocots (plants with a single seed leaf); includes the lily family
Subclass	Commelinidae	Dayflowers and spiderworts, and several others
Order	Typhales	A group including reedlike wetland plants such as cattails
Family	Typhaceae	Plants, such as cattails, with a single flower spike that has both male and female flowers
Genus	Sparganium	From Greek and Latin sparganion, derived from sparganon, “diaper, ribbon, swadding band, for the ribbon-like leaves
Species	americanum	“From America”

About plant names...

Bur-reeds, a type of sedge, are a native American plant.

Identification: Bur-reeds are always found growing in shallow water that is present all year. These sedges are up to 12-42" (30-106 cm) tall, with crooked stems and grasslike leaves. As with all sedges, stems are triangular in cross-section—this is easy to feel with your fingers. Leaves are long, narrow, and strap-like, similar to those of cattails. Bur-like spherical spiky green to white flowers, several to a stem, make these unmistakable. Each flower is ball-shaped, ¾-1" (1.9-2.5 cm) around, and green to white in color.

Edibility: Cooked roots and stem bases are edible.

Online References:

Missouriplants.com

The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center

The USDA Plants Database

The University of Wisconsin's Robert W. Freckmann Herbarium

Plants for a Future, a resource and information centre for edible and otherwise useful plants

EFloras

7/29/2010 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Nashoba Hospital, Ayer, Massachusetts
≈ 9 × 14" (23 × 35 cm)

9/11/2021 · Otter Brook Preserve, Harpswell, Maine
≈ 8 × 5" (20 × 13 cm)

7/29/2010 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Nashoba Hospital, Ayer, Massachusetts
≈ 7 × 11" (18 × 27 cm)

9/1/2010 · Beaver Brook Association Conservation Lands, Rte. 130, Hollis, New Hampshire
≈ 12 × 8" (31 × 20 cm) ID is uncertain

Sparganium americanum description by Thomas H. Kent, last updated 25 May 2020.

8/27/2010 · Beaver Brook Association Conservation Lands, Rte. 130, Hollis, New Hampshire
≈ 16 × 24" (41 × 62 cm) ID is uncertain

7/29/2010 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Nashoba Hospital, Ayer, Massachusetts
≈ 8 × 12" (20 × 31 cm)

9/1/2010 · Beaver Brook Association Conservation Lands, Rte. 130, Hollis, New Hampshire
≈ 9 × 14" (23 × 35 cm) ID is uncertain

7/29/2010 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Nashoba Hospital, Ayer, Massachusetts
≈ 9 × 14" (23 × 35 cm)

9/1/2010 · Beaver Brook Association Conservation Lands, Rte. 130, Hollis, New Hampshire
≈ 14 × 9" (35 × 23 cm) ID is uncertain

Range:

About this map...