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Broadfruit bur-reed

Sparganium eurycarpum

Also called Big bur-reed, Great bur-reed, Giant Burreed, Broad Fruit Burr Reed, Broad Fruited Burreed, Large Fruited Burreed, Simple Stemmed Burreed

Broadfruit bur-reed
Photo: Gordon Leppig & Andrea J. Pickart, Public domain
Family
Typhaceae (Typh family)
Grows as
Perennial
Water
Likes moisture
Native range
Russian Far East to Japan, N. America to Mexico
Climate
temperate

About

Sparganium eurycarpum is a species of bur-reed known by the common names broadfruit bur-reed and giant bur-reed. It is native to wetlands in Eurasia and North America. It is a clonal perennial, spreading by below-ground rhizomes. The common name, bur-reed, arises from the distinctive round clusters of fruits that take the form of a mace. It can be distinguished from all other species of bur-reed by the presence of two stigmas.

This species frequently occurs in areas with spring flooding, and may be emersed during periods of lower water. The buried rhizomes provide one method to survive periods of drought, fire, or ice scour. The flowers are wind pollinated, the male flower clusters being separate and more highly elevated than the female. It also produces large seeds, which can accumulate in the soil as buried reserves.

Other Sparganium plants

American bur-reed · Narrowleaf bur-reed · European bur-reed · Simplestem bur-reed · Floating bur-reed · Clustered bur-reed · Sparganium gramineum · Small bur-reed · Bur-reed

Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Sparganium eurycarpum by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts are shared under the same licence.

Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.

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