BUR-REED FAMILY 



81 



1. SPARGANIUM [Tourn.] L. Sp. PI. 971. 1753. 



Characters of the family. (Greek, referring to tlie ribbon-like leaves.) 



About 20 species, of temperate and cool regions of both the northern and southern hemispheres. Type 

 species, Sparganium erectum L. 



Inflorescence branched; achenes sessile, truncate or rounded at ajjex. 



Achenes cuneate-obpyramidal, nearly as broad as long, truncate or depressed at apex. 



1. 5'. eurycarpum. 

 Achenes obovoid, decidedly longer than broad, rounded at the apex. 



Perianth scales dilated toward the base; 25-30 mm. broad; achenes 9-10 mm. long. 



2. .S". californicum. 

 Perianth scales narrowed below; achenes 6-8 mm. long; heads 20-25 mm. broad. 3. S. greenei. 



Inflorescence simple; achenes stipitate. 



Achenes fusiform, more or less tapering into the beak. 



Leaves, at least the middle ones, triangular -keeled. 4. 5". simplex. 



Leaves not keeled, mainly floating. 5. 5". angttstifolittm. 



Achenes obovate, rounded at apex, the slender beak about 1 mm. long. 6. 5". viiiiimum. 



1. Sparganium eurycarpum Engelm. 

 Broad-fruited Bur-reed. Fig. 167. 



sparganium eurxcarpiim Engelm.; A. Gray, Man. ed. 

 2, 430. 1856. 



Stems erect, 5-15 dm. high, stout, branching. 

 Leaves 5-10 dm. long, 7-10 mm. wide, flat, 

 slightly keeled beneath; pistillate heads 2-4 on 

 the stem or branches, sessile or usually pe- 

 duncled, in fruit 20-25 mm. in diameter; 

 perianth scales long-clawed, nearly as long as 

 the achenes ; anthers about 1 mm. long, elliptic- 

 clavate ; stigmas often 2, filiform, about 2 mm. 

 long; achenes sessile, cuneate-obpyramidal, 

 3-5-angled, 6-8 mm. long and nearly as broad, 

 truncate or depressed at the apex, the beak 

 about 3 mm. long. 



In marshes and along streams. Austral and Boreal 

 Zones; British Columbia to Newfoundland, south to 

 California, Utah, and Florida. In the Pacific States, 

 mainly east of the Cascade Mountains in Washington 

 and Oregon, and in the interior valleys of California. 

 Type locality: eastern United States. 



2. Sparganium californicum Greene. 



California Bur-reed. 



Fig. 168. 



sparganium californicum Greene, Bull. Calif. Acad. 1: 11. 1884. 



Stem stout, branching, 1-2 m. high. Leaves linear, flat, 

 slightly keeled beneath, the lowest 1-1.5 m. long, staminate 

 heads numerous ; pistillate heads 1-2 on a branch, sessile, 

 25-30 mm. in diameter, coinpact and hard ; achenes sessile, 

 obovoid, 3-5-angled, rounded at the apex, 9-10 mm. long, 

 about 6 mm. broad; beak nearly 2 mm. long; scales long- 

 clawed, rounded and erose at the summit, scarcely wider 

 than the dilated lower portion of the claw ; stigmas linear, 

 usually 2. 



Marshes, mainly in the L'pper Sonoran Zone; central California, 

 from Napa to Monterey Counties. Type locality: Calistoga, Napa 

 County, California. 



