Reed is a common name for several tall, grass-like plants of wetlands.
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 can grow to 3.5 m, with epicene flowers.
Luronium natans is a species of aquatic plant commonly known as the floating water-plantain. It is the only recognized species in the genus Luronium, native to western and central Europe, from Spain to Britain to Norway east to Ukraine.
Xanthium strumarium is a species of annual plants of the family Asteraceae. It probably originates in North America and has been extensively naturalized elsewhere.
Caucalis platycarpos is a species of flowering plant in the family Apiaceae, the only member of the genus Caucalis. Common names are carrot bur parsley, small bur-parsley, and burr parsley. It is native to Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East as far east as Iran.
Typha angustifolia L. is a perennial herbaceous plant of genus Typha. This cattail is an "obligate wetland" species that is commonly found in the northern hemisphere in brackish locations.
Cabomba caroliniana is an aquatic perennial herbaceous plant native to North and South America.
Ambrosia acanthicarpa is a North American species of bristly annual plants in the sunflower family. Members of the genus Ambrosia are called ragweeds. The species has common names including flatspine bur ragweed, Hooker's bur-ragweed, annual burrweed, annual bur-sage, and western sand-bur. The plant is common across much of the western United States and in the Prairie Provinces of Canada.
Equisetum hyemale is a perennial herbaceous vascular plant in the horsetail family Equisetaceae. It is a native plant throughout the Holarctic Kingdom, found in North America, Europe, and northern Asia.
Potamogeton natans, commonly known as broad-leaved pondweed, floating pondweed, or floating-leaf pondweed, is an aquatic species in the genus Potamogeton native to quiet or slow-flowing freshwater habitats throughout the Holarctic Kingdom.
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.
Myriophyllum verticillatum, the whorl-leaf watermilfoil or whorled water-milfoil, is a native to much of North America, North Africa, and Eurasia. It closely resembles another native milfoil, called northern water milfoil Whorled water milfoil is also easily confused with four types of invasive milfoils: Eurasian water milfoil, Variable water-milfoil, Parrot feather, and hybrid water milfoil.
Branched bur-reed is a common name for several plants in the genus Sparganium and may refer to:
Sparganium erectum, the simplestem bur-reed or branched bur-reed, is a perennial plant species in the genus Sparganium.
Sparganium angustifolium is a species of flowering plant in the cat-tail family known by the common names floating bur-reed and 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. Its habitat includes acidic, low-nutrient freshwater bodies such as ponds, lakes, slow-moving streams, and ditches. It can become abundant, practically covering the surface of the water. It is a perennial herb producing a floating stem with long, narrow, flattened leaves which can be quite long, sometimes reaching over two meters. It is monoecious, individual plants bearing both male and female inflorescences. These are spherical, the male inflorescence a ball of stamens and the female inflorescence a ball of developing fruits.
Sparganium emersum is a species of flowering plant in the cat-tail family known by the common names European bur-reed and unbranched 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 inflorescences. These are spherical, the male inflorescence a ball of stamens and the female inflorescence a ball of developing fruits growing beneath the male spheres.
Veronica anagallis-aquatica is a species of flowering plant in the family Plantaginaceae known by the common names water speedwell, blue water-speedwell,,brook pimpernel, and sessile water-speedwell. It is also listed as Veronica catenata. Its true native range is not clear, but the plant is present on most continents, and in most places it is probably naturalized. It occurs in many types of moist and wet habitat, and it is semi-aquatic, often growing in shallow water along streambanks, in ponds, and in other wetland environments. It is a rhizomatous perennial herb with stems growing 10 centimeters to about a meter in maximum length. It may be decumbent, the stem spreading along the ground and rooting where it touches moist substrate, or erect in form. The oppositely arranged leaves are green, smooth-edged or toothed, and sometimes clasping the stem where the leaf pairs meet at the bases. The inflorescence is a raceme of many flowers arising from the leaf axils. Each flower is borne on a short, curving pedicel. The flower corolla is up to a centimeter wide with four lobes, the upper lobe being widest. It is blue, lavender, or violet with purple lines near the base of each lobe. At the center are two small protruding stamens.
Sparganium glomeratum, the clustered bur-reed, is a species of bur-reed. It is a water plant native to high elevation lakes and marshes of Europe, Asia, and North America. North American populations were doubted as introduced due to its scarce and scattered populations, but a recent herbarium survey found more localities of the species in the central of Canada, concluding the species as circumpolar species.
Sparganium americanum, American bur-reed, is a perennial plant found in the United States of America and Canada. Though this species resembles a grass, it is a type of bur-reed. 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.
Sparganium fluctuans is a species of bur-reed found in North America known by the common name floating bur-reed. It is listed as endangered in Connecticut.
