How to Grow and Care for Bur-reeds

The common bur-reed is a perennial herbaceous plant that can reach heights of up to 1.7 meters. It grows rigidly upright and never floods. Unlike the dwarf hedgehog (Sparganium natans), there are no swimming blade forms. The plant has a powerful rhizome that is extensive, creeping, and starchy.

American bur-reed is a perennial found throughout North America. It is a useful plant because it filters out nitrogen and phosphorus from water runoff. It can grow in shallow, slow-moving water. This plant is eaten by muskrats.

European bur-reed (*Sparganium emersum*) is a semiaquatic plant often found growing in less than 61 cm of water. European bur-reed is a popular food for marsh wildlife, including many insects, waterfowl, and muskrats, who will often devour the whole plant.

Broadfruit bur-reed (Sparganium eurycarpum) is a perennial wildflower that can grow from 61 to 183 cm tall. It blooms in summer with both male and female flowers. Male flowers are round yellow balls of blossoms while yellow female flowers sit below the male blossoms and have a two-parted shape. Fruit develops in the female flower and has a beak-shaped tip. It is filled with seeds and turns brown as it ripens.

The Narrowleaf bur-reed was aptly named for its thin, hair-like strands of leaves that float at the surface of water. It grows prolifically in low-nutrient bodies of freshwater, almost to the point of covering the entire surface. Interestingly, narrowleaf bur-reed produces both male and female flowers, allowing an individual plant to essentially fertilize itself.