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Species Image Gallery (opens in a new window) |
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| THE BUR-REED FAMILY | |||||||||
| The bur-reed family is found in north temperate regions of the world, as well as in Australia and New Zealand. These plants are perennial, aquatic herbs that grow completely under water or with some parts rising out of the water. The leaf blades are flat or boat-shaped and are grass-like in appearance. The flowers are clustered into heads. The male and female heads are on the same plant, with the male heads above the female heads. The female heads are round in shape and are sessile or short stalked. The flowers have three to six, white to green tepals. The fruits are in clusters and are single-seeded and slightly fleshy. | |||||||||
| NORTHERN BUR-REED | |||||||||
| LATIN NAME: Sparganium hyperboreum | |||||||||
| WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE? | |||||||||
| Northern bur-reed is an aquatic plant that grows up to 30 cm tall. The leaves are usually floating and are up to 50 cm long and 4 mm wide. The single male head is terminal and is closely associated with the last female head. The flowers have three to six tepals that do not have a dark spot at the tip. The female flowers have one stigma. The fruits are brown or yellowish and do not have a beak. | |||||||||
| WHERE DOES IT GROW? | |||||||||
| Northern bur-reed grows as an emergent shallow-water aquatic at sedge-marshy streamlet borders. | |||||||||
| WHERE IS IT FOUND IN SASKATCHEWAN? | |||||||||
| This plant is found in northwestern Saskatchewan in the Tazin Lake Upland. | |||||||||
| WHY IS IT RARE? | |||||||||
| Northern bur-reed is endangered because of extreme rarity in Saskatchewan. It is regionally restricted to the northwest corner of the province and is almost always locally sparse. Immediate or probable threats have been identified. | |||||||||
| HOW TO IDENTIFY NORTHERN BUR-REED | |||||||||
| * Do the female flowers have one stigma? * Are the leaves floating and 2 to 4 mm wide? * Are the fruits beakless? * Did you find it in northwestern Saskatchewan? | |||||||||
| If you answered yes to all of these questions, you may have found northern bur-reed! | |||||||||
