BUR REED FAMILY. Sparganlacese. 



in Nantucket, and along the N. J. coast, and is reported 

 at Mt. Equinox, Vt. , by Miss Mary A. Day. 



BUR REED FAMILY. Sparganiocece. 

 Marsh herbs with flowers arranged like those of Typha 

 but collected in separate spherical heads. Largely self- 

 fertilizing, but assisted in the process by aquatic insects 

 and flies. 



Great Bur Reed ^^ e deep green leaves are similar to those 

 Sparganium of. the foregoing species and are about f 

 eurycarpum inch wide. The downy flowers are in 

 Brown-white dense round heads scattered along the top 

 of the stem, and like those of the cat-tails 

 consist of the two kinds, staminate and pistillate, abso- 

 lutely separated. The green fruit is a burlike sphere 

 composed of nutlets wedge-shaped below, and flattened 

 above with an abrupt point in the centre, so that the 

 general appearance of its surface is not unlike that of 

 the pineapple. The name is from Gitapyavov, a band, in 

 allusion to the ribbonlike leaves. The plant is 3-7 feet 

 high, and is common on the borders of ponds and rivers 

 from Me., south to Va., and west. 



This is a much smaller species with nar- 

 Smaller Bur 



rower leaves, and a simple stem and row 



Sparganium of flower-heads. The green fruit is about 

 simplex j inch in diameter, with a decidedly bur- 



Brow n=white ^9 a pp earance the nutlets tapering to a 

 June-August . 



point at either end, and the upper point 



being much longer than that of the fruit in the preced- 

 ing species. The plant is 1-2 feet high, and is generally 

 in the water, erect or sometimes afloat ; it is found from 

 Me. to N. J., and west. 



This familiar variety, which is common 



Bur^eed* in a11 bogs ' is lar er than the foregoing 

 Sparganium i n niany respects, and it is distinguished 

 americanum var. for its branching and somewhat angular 

 androdadum flower-stem ; the latter grows out at the 



- 



plant-stem. The plant is 1-2 feet high, 



and is distributed from Me., south, and west to Minn. 

 and Mo. 



[See Appendix.] 



