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• Sparganium
• Sparganium angustifolium

Sparganium angustifolium — narrow-leaved bur-reed

Facts

Narrow-leaved bur-reed is a circumboreal species. It becomes rare in southern New England. True to its name it has narrow, flaccid leaves that are submerged or floating, rarely emersed. Compared to bur-reeds (Sparganium), it is not very variable' in appearance.

Habitat

Lacustrine (in lakes or ponds), riverine (in rivers or streams)

Characteristics

• Clonal plantlets

  Turion length

  0 mm

• Flowers

  Anther color

  there is a noticeable pink, reddish or purplish tint to the anthers

  Anther length

  0.8–1.2 mm

  Carpels fused

  the carpels are fused to one another

  Flower lower lip length

  0 mm

  Flower number

  3–23

  Flower position

  the flowers are floating on the surface of the water

  Flower symmetry

  there are two or more ways to evenly divide the flower (the flower is radially symmetrical)

  Inflorescence type

  the inflorescence is a spike (a long unbranched stem with flowers along it that lack stalks)

  Length of flower stalk

  0 mm

  Length of peduncle

  0–85 mm

  Nectar spur

  the flower has no nectar spurs

  Number of carpels

  0–3

  Ovary position

  • NA
  • the sepals and/or petals are attached below the ovary

  Palate on corolla

  NA

  Petal and sepal arrangement

  • the flower includes only one cycle of petals or sepals
  • the flower includes two cycles of petal- or sepal-like structures

  Petal appearance

  NA

  Petal color

  • brown
  • green
  • white

  Petal fringed edges

  NA

  Petal fusion

  NA

  Petal hairs on inner/upper surface

  NA

  Petal length

  0 mm

  Petal number

  0

  Petal or sepal number

  • there are five petals, sepals, or tepals in the flower
  • there are four petals, sepals, or tepals in the flower
  • there are six petals, sepals, or tepals in the flower
  • there are three petals, sepals, or tepals in the flower

  Pistil number

  • 0
  • 1

  Sepal appearance

  the sepals resemble leaves in color and texture

  Sepal number

  3–6

  Sepals fused only to sepals

  the sepals are separate from one another

  Spur length

  0 mm

  Stamen number

  • 0
  • 1 or 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • 6
  • 7
  • 8

  Stamen position relative to petals

  NA

  Stamens fused

  • the stamens are fused to one another at or near their bases
  • the stamens are not fused to one another

  Stamens fused to petals

  • NA
  • the stamens are not fused to the petals or tepals

  Style number

  0–1

• Fruits or seeds

  Fruit beak length

  1.5–5 mm

  Fruit length

  3–7 mm

  Fruit type (general)

  the fruit is dry but does not split open when ripe

  Fruit type (specific)

  • the fruit is a drupe (fleshy, with a firm inner ovary wall that encloses a single seed)
  • the fruit is an achene (dry, usually 1-seeded, does not separate or split open at maturity)

  Fruit width

  1.2–1.7 mm

• Glands or sap

  Oil glands on nodes

  none of the nodes have oil glands

  Sap

  the sap is clear and watery

• Growth form

  Lifespan

  the plant lives more than two years

  Root septa

  the roots do not have transverse septa

  Roots floating in water

  there are no clusters of roots floating in the water

  Turions

  there are no turions on the plant

  Underground organs

  the plant has a rhizome (a horizontal underground stem with roots growing from it)

• Leaves

  Bract position (Sparganium)

  the inflorescence bract is immediately below and touching the carpellate spikes and peduncles

  Bract relative length

  At least 1380 mm

  Bracts

  the flowers or their pedicels have bracts at their bases

  Floating leaf basal lobes

  no

  Floating leaf blade width

  2–10 mm

  Floating leaf length

  200–2500 mm

  Floating leaf shape

  the leaf blade is linear (very narrow with more or less parallel sides)

  Floating leaf tip

  • the tip of the floating leaf blade is obtuse (bluntly pointed)
  • the tip of the floating leaf blade is rounded, with no point

  Floral bract form

  the bracts are roughly as lobed as the foliage leaves

  Leaf arrangement

  alternate: there is one leaf per node along the stem

  Leaf blade length

  200–2500 mm

  Leaf blade veins

  the lateral veins are parallel or slightly arched in the direction of the tip

  Leaf blade width

  2–10 mm

  Leaf position

  • some of the leaves are floating at the surface of the water
  • the leaves are all submerged underwater

  Leaf special features

  none of the mentioned special features are present

  Leaf-like branch segments

  0

  Leaf-like branch shape

  NA

  Specific leaf type

  the leaf is not divided, rather the blade is made up of one segment

  Staminate bract edge (Myriophyllum)

  NA

  Stipule appearance

  NA

  Stipule fused to leaf

  NA

  Stipules

  there are no stipules on the plant

  Stipules fused around stem

  NA

  Trap-bladder length

  0 mm

  Underwater leaf air passage number

  At least 1440

  Underwater leaf blade edges

  the underwater leaf has smooth edges, without teeth

  Underwater leaf blade shape

  the underwater leaf blade is linear (very narrow with more or less parallel sides)

  Underwater leaf blade width

  2–10 mm

  Underwater leaf length

  200–2500 mm

  Underwater leaf stalk

  no

  Underwater leaf stalk length

  0 mm

  Underwater leaf tip shape

  • the tip of the underwater leaf is obtuse (bluntly pointed)
  • the tip of the underwater leaf is rounded, with no point

• Place

  Habitat

  aquatic

  New England state

  • Connecticut
  • Maine
  • Massachusetts
  • New Hampshire
  • Vermont

  Specific habitat

  • in lakes or ponds
  • in rivers or streams

• Stem, shoot, branch

  Flowering stem growth form

  the flowering stem trails along the substrate, or floats in the water

Wetland status

Occurs only in wetlands. (Wetland indicator code: OBL)

New England distribution and conservation status

From the dichotomous key of Flora Novae Angliae