Sparganium is a genus

Genus

In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...

 of flowering plant

Flowering plant

The flowering plants , also known as Angiospermae or Magnoliophyta, are the most diverse group of land plants. Angiosperms are seed-producing plants like the gymnosperms and can be distinguished from the gymnosperms by a series of synapomorphies...

s, containing about 20 species

Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...

 in temperate

Temperate

In geography, temperate or tepid latitudes of the globe lie between the tropics and the polar circles. The changes in these regions between summer and winter are generally relatively moderate, rather than extreme hot or cold...

 regions of both the Northern

Northern Hemisphere

The Northern Hemisphere is the half of a planet that is north of its equator—the word hemisphere literally means “half sphere”. It is also that half of the celestial sphere north of the celestial equator...

 and Southern Hemisphere

Southern Hemisphere

The Southern Hemisphere is the part of Earth that lies south of the equator. The word hemisphere literally means 'half ball' or "half sphere"...

s. It was previously placed alone in the family Sparganiaceae

Sparganiaceae

Sparganiaceae is the botanical name for a family of flowering plants. Such a family was previously 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...

. The plants are perennial

Perennial plant

A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives for more than two years. The term is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter lived annuals and biennials. The term is sometimes misused by commercial gardeners or horticulturalists to describe only herbaceous perennials...

 marsh plants that can grow to anything between 0.2-3.5 m (depending on the species), with epicene

Epicene

Epicene is an adjective for loss of gender distinction, often specific loss of masculinity. It includes:* effeminacy — a man with characteristics that are traditionally feminine...

 flowers.

The Sparganiaceae are closely related to the Typhaceae

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...

 and the APG III system

APG III system

The APG III system of flowering plant classification is the third version of a modern, mostly molecular-based, system of plant taxonomy...

 (2009) includes Sparganium in that family.

Summary

Sparganium, commonly known as the bur-reed, is a genus of aquatic plants of shallow marshes, ponds and streams. There are 9 species found in the United States and Canada . It is characterized by a stem, which may be floating or emergent, bearing strap-like leaves, and spherical heads bearing either male or female flowers.

Sparganium is an important component of aquatic and wetland vegetation in temperate to arctic regions. It provides food and cover for wildlife and waterfowl. It has been determined from phylogenetic analysis to be the closest living relative of the genus Typha

Typha

Typha is a genus of about eleven species of monocotyledonous flowering plants in the family Typhaceae. The genus has a largely Northern Hemisphere distribution, but is essentially cosmopolitan, being found in a variety of wetland habitats...

 (cat-tail).

The genus name Sparganium was published by Linnaeus in Species Plantarum (1753), with two species recognized: S. erectum, and S. natans.

Perhaps the first mention of Sparganium in the English language was made by William Turner

William Turner

William Turner MA was an English divine and reformer, a physician and a natural historian. He studied medicine in Italy, and was a friend of the great Swiss naturalist, Conrad Gessner...

 (1562). Turner noted that there was no name for the plants in English, and suggested bede sedge or knop sedge. Further, he noted, "the virtues of Sparganium: The roote is good to be geven wyth wyne agaynste the poyson of serpentes."

Species

• Sparganium americanum
• Sparganium androcladum
• 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...
  
  
• Sparganium antipodum
• Sparganium emersum
  Sparganium emersum
  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...
  
  
• Sparganium erectum
  Sparganium erectum
  Sparganium erectum, the simplestem bur-reed or branched bur-reed, is a perennial plant species in the genus Sparganium.The larvae of the moth Plusia festucae feed on Sparganium erectum.-See also:...
  
  
• Sparganium eurycarpum
  Sparganium eurycarpum
  Sparganium eurycarpum is a species of bur-reed known by the common names giant bur-reed and broadfruit bur-reed. It is native to Eurasia and North America.-External links:***...
  
  
• Sparganium fallax
• Sparganium fluctuans
• Sparganium glomeratum
• Sparganium gramineum
• Sparganium hyperboreum
• Sparganium japonicum
• Sparganium minimum
• Sparganium natans
  Sparganium natans
  Sparganium natans is a species of bur-reed known by the common name small bur-reed. It is a water plant native to high elevation lakes and marshes of Canada and the northern United States. It is usually found submersed in shallow, calm water. This bur-reed has thin, flexible, grasslike leaves which...
  
  
• Sparganium ramosum
• Sparganium stenophyllum
• Sparganium stoloniferum
• Sparganium subglobosum