Sparganium emersum
Encyclopedia
Sparganium emersum is a species of flowering plant in the cat-tail family
known by the common name European bur-reed. It has a circumboreal distribution
, occurring throughout the northern latitudes of Eurasia and North America. It is an aquatic plant
, growing in shallow water bodies such as ponds and streams. It can become abundant at times. It is a perennial herb producing a floating stem up to 2 meters long. The leaves may be limp and floating or stiff and erect, emerging above the water surface. The leaves are flat and straplike, sometimes with a triangular, keeled base that can help distinguish it from the similar Sparganium angustifolium
. It is monoecious
, individual plants bearing both male and female inflorescence
s. These are spherical, the male inflorescence a ball of stamen
s and the female inflorescence a ball of developing fruits growing beneath the male spheres.
Typhaceae
Typhaceae is the botanical name for a family of flowering plants. Such a family has been recognized by most taxonomists.The APG II system, of 2003 , also recognizes this family, and assigns it to the order Poales in the clade commelinids, in the monocots...
known by the common name European bur-reed. It has a circumboreal distribution
Circumboreal Region
The Circumboreal Region is a floristic region within the Holarctic Kingdom in Eurasia and North America, as delineated by such geobotanists as Josias Braun-Blanquet and Armen Takhtajan....
, occurring throughout the northern latitudes of Eurasia and North America. It is an aquatic plant
Aquatic plant
Aquatic plants are plants that have adapted to living in aquatic environments. They are also referred to as hydrophytes or aquatic macrophytes. These plants require special adaptations for living submerged in water, or at the water's surface. Aquatic plants can only grow in water or in soil that is...
, growing in shallow water bodies such as ponds and streams. It can become abundant at times. It is a perennial herb producing a floating stem up to 2 meters long. The leaves may be limp and floating or stiff and erect, emerging above the water surface. The leaves are flat and straplike, sometimes with a triangular, keeled base that can help distinguish it from the similar Sparganium angustifolium
Sparganium angustifolium
Sparganium angustifolium is a species of flowering plant in the cat-tail family known by the common name narrowleaf bur-reed. It has a circumboreal distribution, occurring throughout the northern latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere. It is an aquatic plant, growing in water up to 2.5 meters deep...
. It is monoecious
Plant sexuality
Plant sexuality covers the wide variety of sexual reproduction systems found across the plant kingdom. This article describes morphological aspects of sexual reproduction of plants....
, individual plants bearing both male and female inflorescence
Inflorescence
An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Strictly, it is the part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed and which is accordingly modified...
s. These are spherical, the male inflorescence a ball of stamen
Stamen
The stamen is the pollen producing reproductive organ of a flower...
s and the female inflorescence a ball of developing fruits growing beneath the male spheres.