''Sparganium americanum'', American bur-reed, is a perennial plant found in the

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''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 and Southern Hemispheres. The plants are perennial marsh plants that c ...

.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 Eutrophication is a general term describing a process in which nutrients accumulate in a body of water, resulting in an increased growth of organisms that may deplete the oxygen in the water; ie. the process of too many plants growing on the s ...

. 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

American bur-reed grows from spring to fall in low marsh and shallow water (from 0 to 12 inches of water) 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. It grows 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.It lives 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

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, scientists showed that ''S. americanum'' accrued more aboveground biomass and lower belowground biomass than the other four wetland plant species the study looked at; ''

Phalaris arundinacea ''Phalaris arundinacea'', or reed canary grass, is a tall, 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, Asia, northern ...

'', ''

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'' is a perennial herbaceous flowering plant species in the rush family Juncaceae, with the common names common rush or soft rush. In North America, the common name soft rush also refers to ''Juncus interior''. Distribution ''J ...

'', 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, Canada ...

''. 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 or common 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 various climates ...

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. 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. It flowers in the summer time. The inflorescence can be branched or simple. The fruits 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 can have a dark spot on them.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15147045

americanum This list of Latin and Greek words commonly used in systematic names is intended to help those unfamiliar with classical languages to understand and remember the scientific names of organisms. The binomial nomenclature used for animals and plants ...