Sparganiaceae
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Authority
Gleason, Henry A. & Cronquist, Arthur J. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. lxxv + 910 pp.
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Family
Sparganiaceae
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Scientific Name
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Description
Family Description - Fls small, grouped into dense, unisexual, complex heads along the stem and branches, the staminate heads uppermost; perianth of (1–)3–6 oblong to spatulate, often scale-like, hypogynous tep in 1 or 2 series; stamens 1–8, often opposite the tep, the anthers on slender filaments; staminate heads through asymmetric growth sometimes coming to appear as a mass of irregularly disposed stamens and scales; ovary 1, superior, unilocular or seldom bilocular or even trilocular, with a single pendulous, apotropous ovule in each locule; fr sessile or short-stipitate, small, dry, indehiscent, with spongy exocarp and stony endocarp, usually subtended by the persistent tep as well as beaked by the persistent style; embryo straight, linear, with a terminal cotyledon, surrounded by copious endosperm and thin perisperm; rhizomatous, ± aquatic perennials; lvs emergent or floating, distichous, with sheathing base and long, linear, parallel-veined, often spongy blade. A single genus.
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Common Names
The bur-reed family