American Bur-reed
Sparganium americanum
Found in streams, marshes, ponds, pools, spring branches, often submerged. FloraQuest, phone app (app page) What its natural habitat tells you
40
Good
Native to Florida. How scores work Is it native here?
Profile 88%
- Height
- About 3.2 feet
- Light
- Partial sun, Full sun
- Soil moisture
- High
At a glance
- Life cycle
- Perennial
- Bloom
- May to September
- Fruiting season
- Spring to fall
JFMAMJJASOND
Not yet recorded · Spread · Leaves
Recorded in 21 Florida counties.
Natural habitats
Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.
1 of 3
Streams, rivers and their banks
Flowing water and its banks, bars and rocky shoals.
Ecological relationships
Who uses this plant?
8CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including FL
Genus host records with ranges including FL · Sparganium
- Bellura obliquaCattail Border Moth, Cattail Diver
- Elophila icciusalisPondside Pyralid, Pondside Crambid
- Elophila obliteralisWaterlily Leafcutter Moth
- Langessa nomophilalisBlack Langessa
- Nymphalis antiopaMourning Cloak
- Parapoynx badiusalisChestnut-Marked Pondweed Moth
- Parapoynx obscuralisObscure Pondweed Moth
- Parapoynx seminealisFloating-Heart Waterlilly Moth, Waterlily Casebearer
0BeesSoutheastern regional records
0Specialist beesPollen specialists
8BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim
Recorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim · Sparganium
- Anas creccaGreen-winged Teal
- Anas platyrhynchosMallard
- Anas rubripesAmerican Black Duck
- Antigone canadensisSandhill Crane
- Aythya collarisRing-necked Duck
- Branta canadensisCanada Goose
- Cygnus olorMute Swan
- Fulica americanaAmerican Coot
Direct food only: birds recorded eating this genus across North America. Caterpillars on host plants also feed nesting birds. NC Native Plant Society: butterfly gardening
No records yet · Ants · Beetles · Flies · Adult butterflies / moths · Other wasps · Other insects
Growing and identification
Plant details
- Family
- Typhaceae
- Flower color
- Green
- Growth rate
- Moderate
- Growth habit
- Spreads to form colonies
- Foliage color
- Green
- Fruit begins
- Spring
- Fruit ends
- Fall
Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.
Growing sources and scope
- Bloom · “May to September” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) (ranked first; USDA PLANTS, Prairie Moon 2026 Cultural Guide differ) · Carolinas and Georgia
- Flower color · “Green” · USDA PLANTS (ranked first; Prairie Moon 2026 Cultural Guide differs) · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Foliage color · “Green” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Fruit begins · “Spring” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Fruit ends · “Fall” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Growth habit · “Spreads to form colonies” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Growth rate · “Moderate” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Height · “About 3.2 feet” · USDA PLANTS (ranked first; Minnesota Wildflowers, Prairie Moon 2026 Cultural Guide differ) · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Life cycle · “Perennial” · Minnesota Wildflowers
- Light · “Partial sun (minimum requirement); Full sun (minimum requirement)” · Virginia DCR Piedmont (ranked first; Prairie Moon 2026 Cultural Guide differs) · Virginia regional planting chart; sunlight is a minimum requirement, moisture is low/moderate/high
- Soil · “High” · Virginia DCR Piedmont (ranked first; Prairie Moon 2026 Cultural Guide differs) · Virginia regional planting chart; sunlight is a minimum requirement, moisture is low/moderate/high
Also known as
American Bur Reed
Conservation status
| Florida rank | S3S4 |
|---|---|
| Global rank | G5 |
| FL status | Not verified |
| Federal status | Not verified |
In your garden
Will it fit your yard?
Check this plant against your county, sun and soil moisture. Conditions are checked in your browser.
Choose a county to begin.
Growing cautions
- Forms colonies. USDA PLANTS lists its growth form as colonizing. USDA PLANTS
For planning only; these do not change the score or Fit.
Sources
- Atlas of Florida Plants
- USDA PLANTS
- Vascular Plants of North Carolina (NC Natural Heritage Program)
- FloraQuest: Florida (Weakley), phone app (app page)
- NatureServe Explorer
- Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
- Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Smith, Bachelder, Russell, Morales, Mosher & Seltmann 2024, Bee-Specialization-Modeling v0.6.1 (specialist host table compiled from J. Fowler's pollen specialist bee lists), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Hurlbert, Olsen, Sawyer & Winner 2021, Avian Diet Database, Scientific Data 8: 260 (CC0)
- Narango, Tallamy & Shropshire 2020, Few keystone plant genera support the majority of Lepidoptera species, Nature Communications