''Sparganium americanum'', American bur-reed, is a perennial plant found in the United States of America and Canada.
[http://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=SPAM ''Sparganium americanum'' Nutt. American bur-reed, United States Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service] Though this species resembles a grass, it is a type of
bur-reed
''Sparganium'' (bur-reed) is a genus of flowering plants, described as a genus by Linnaeus in 1753. It is widespread in wet areas in temperate regions of both the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Southern Hemispheres. The plants are Perennial ...
.
[http://www.aquascapesunlimited.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=plants.plantDetail&plant_id=102&typeID=2 ''Sparganium americanum''. Aquascapes Unlimited Inc.] This species is important for conservation purposes because it has the ability to remove nitrogen and phosphorus runoff from water, like many other wetland species. By doing this it protects waterways from excess nitrogen which can cause eutrophication. This increased nitrogen is especially a problem during the farmers’ growing season. During this same time frame the ''S. americanum'' is growing and taking up nitrogen.
[Kao, Jenny T., John E. Titus, and Wei-Xing Zhu. 2003. Differential Nitrogen and Phosphorus Retention by Five Wetland Plant Species. ''Wetlands'' Vol. 23, No. 4: 979-987. DOI 10.1672/0277-5212(2003)023 979:DNAPRB.0.CO;2. Accessed 4/30/14.]
Distribution
''Sparganium americanum'' is located in marshes. American bur-reed grows from spring to fall in low marsh and shallow water (from 0 to 12 inches of water).
''Sparganium americanum'' is located in the United States of America and Canada. In the United States, American bur-reed is found in Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Washington DC, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, Michigan, Missouri, Mississippi, North Carolina, North Dakota, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Vermont, Wisconsin, and West Virginia. In Canada American bur-reed can be found in Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Prince Edward, and Quebec.
Habitat and ecology
''Sparganium americanum'' is a perennial plant.
American bur-reed grow in low marsh and shallow water, surviving in water up to 12 inches deep. This species helps stabilize muddy areas. Waterfowl and other animals feed on the seeds of ''S. americanum'' and some animals also eat their leaves.
''Sparganium americanum'' live in peaty to sandy soils along lakeshores, slow moving streams and as floating vegetation in boggy lakes.
[Sulman, Josh. 2013. ''Sparganium'' identification key and species descriptions. University of Wisconsin-Madison, Department of Botany. Accessed 4/30/14 at http://botany.wisc.edu/jsulman/Sparganium%20identification%20key%20and%20description.htm]
In a paper by the State University of New York at Binghamton, scientists showed that ''S. americanum'' accrued more aboveground biomass and lower belowground biomass than the other four wetland plant species the study looked at. The study looked at ''Sparganium americanum'', ''
Phalaris arundinacea
''Phalaris arundinacea'', or reed canary grass, is a tall, Perennial plant, perennial bunchgrass that commonly forms extensive single-species stands along the margins of lakes and streams and in wet open areas, with a wide distribution in Europe ...
'', ''
Scirpus cyperinus
''Scirpus cyperinus'', commonly known as woolgrass, is an emergent wetland herb that is native to the eastern United States and eastern Canada. Other common names include cottongrass bulrush[Juncus effusus
''Juncus effusus'', with the common names common rush or soft rush, is a perennial herbaceous flowering plant species in the rush family Juncaceae. In North America, the common name soft rush also refers to '' Juncus interior''.
Distribution
' ...]
'', and ''
Calamagrostis canadensis
''Calamagrostis canadensis'' is a species of grass, having three or more varieties, in the family Poaceae. It is known variously by the common names of bluejoint, bluejoint reedgrass, marsh reedgrass, Canadian reedgrass, meadow pinegrass, and m ...
''. The study also showed that ''S. americanum'' had the highest concentration of nitrogen and phosphorus in aboveground tissue compared to the other species in the study. Even though ''S. americanum'' accumulated the most aboveground nitrogen and phosphorus, this species lost so much phosphorus that its net retention dropped below that of other species in the study. In the short run American bur-reed is helpful in retaining nutrients from agricultural runoff.
Waterfowl and marsh birds eat the seeds, and
muskrat
The muskrat (''Ondatra zibethicus'') is a medium-sized semiaquatic rodent native to North America and an introduced species in parts of Europe, Asia, and South America. The muskrat is found in wetlands over a wide range of climates and habitat ...
s eat from the entire plant.
Morphology
''Sparganium americanum'' is a monocot plant.
Individuals of this species may look like grass, but they aren’t. Individual American bur-reeds can grow to be between two and four feet. American bur-reed plants flower during the summer.
The leaves are green and are triangular in cross section; the leaves of individuals living in deeper water can produce floating leaves.
Flowers and fruit
''Sparganium americanum'' spread rapidly through their underground root systems of rhizomes. American bur-reed does flower in the summer time.
The inflorescence of ''S. americanum'' can be branched or simple. The fruits of this plant species have a dull surface with beaks that are between 2 and 5 millimeters long. These beaks may be straight, but some of them may be curved. The flower tepals could have a dark spot on them.
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q15147045
americanum