Sparganium angustifolium

Narrow-leaved bur-reed

Family: Typhaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Narrow-leaved bur-reed is a native perennial found in the Klamath Ranges and Sierra Nevada High Sierra in shallow to deep lakes, ponds, and streams at elevations of 1,800 to 3,100 meters. Flowering from June to August, this aquatic plant produces small white flower heads with distinctive staminate and pistillate clusters. Growing up to 2.5 meters long, it has limp, floating stems that can occasionally become emergent or terrestrial. Its narrow leaves are 1 to 5 millimeters wide, generally flat or slightly convex, with some leaves obscurely three-angled or keeled. The fruit is an ellipsoid to fusiform body 3 to 4 millimeters long with a short 1.5 to 2.2 millimeter beak.

Habitat: Locally common. Shallow to deep, nutrient-poor water, lakes, ponds, streams, occasionally +- terrestrial

Bloom period: Jun-Aug

Elevation: 1800-3100 m

Bioregions: KR, SNH

California counties: Alpine, El Dorado, Fresno, Mono, Nevada, Siskiyou, Tulare, Tuolumne, Inyo, Mariposa, Placer, Sierra, Trinity, Madera, Humboldt, San Bernardino, Modoc, Lassen, Plumas, Amador, Butte, Mendocino, Sonoma, Shasta, Santa Barbara

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.