Sparganium erectumL.

Branched Bur-reedbranched bur-reedsimple-stem bur-reedsimplestem bur-reed

WFO wfo-0000553880 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC BY / CC BY-SA

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Sparganium erectum, photographed by bogsuckers
fig. a bogsuckers, CC BY 4.0 / 2022-06-11 / obs. 205189780
Sparganium erectum, photographed by Nadezhda Kiseleva
fig. b Nadezhda Kiseleva, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 165771567
Sparganium erectum, photographed by Dan Wrench
fig. c Dan Wrench, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 165588743
Sparganium erectum, photographed by Galyna Mykytynets
fig. d Galyna Mykytynets, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 171396130
Sparganium erectum, photographed by Johan Kjær Prehn
fig. e Johan Kjær Prehn, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 153337854
Sparganium erectum, photographed by jfgodeau
fig. f jfgodeau, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 180715671
Sparganium erectum, photographed by Александр Тихонов
fig. g Александр Тихонов, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 159322781
Sparganium erectum, photographed by Skjold Søndergaard
fig. h Skjold Søndergaard, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 148568268

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Native range 61 botanical countries

Regions where Sparganium erectum is native: Algeria, Libya, Morocco, Tunisia, Altay, East Aegean Is., Iran, Iraq, Irkutsk, Kazakhstan, Kirgizstan, Krasnoyarsk, Lebanon-Syria, North Caucasus, Palestine, Tadzhikistan, Transcaucasus, Türkiye, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, West Siberia, Yakutiya, West Himalaya, Albania, Austria, Baleares, Baltic States, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Central European Russia, Corse, Czechia-Slovakia, Denmark, East European Russia, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Kriti, Krym, Netherlands, North European Russia, Northwest European Russia, Norway, NW. Balkan Pen., Poland, Portugal, Romania, Sardegna, Sicilia, South European Russia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Türkiye-in-Europe, Ukraine AlgeriaLibyaMoroccoTunisiaAltayEast Aegean Is.IranIraqIrkutskKazakhstanKirgizstanKrasnoyarskLebanon-SyriaNorth CaucasusPalestineTadzhikistanTranscaucasusTürkiyeTurkmenistanUzbekistanWest SiberiaYakutiyaWest HimalayaAlbaniaAustriaBaltic StatesBelarusBelgiumBulgariaCentral European RussiaCorseCzechia-SlovakiaDenmarkEast European RussiaFinlandFranceGermanyGreeceHungaryIrelandItalyKritiKrymNetherlandsNorth European RussiaNorthwest European RussiaNorwayNW. Balkan Pen.PolandPortugalRomaniaSiciliaSouth European RussiaSpainSwedenSwitzerlandTürkiye-in-EuropeUkraine BalearesSardegna
Native distribution of Sparganium erectum, after Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Introduced, extinct and doubtful records are excluded, so this is where the plant is from, not everywhere it now grows. Regions too small to draw at this scale are marked with a dot.
RegionTDWG codeContinent
Albania ALB EUROPE
Austria AUT
Baleares BAL
Baltic States BLT
Belarus BLR
Belgium BGM
Bulgaria BUL
Central European Russia RUC
Corse COR
Czechia-Slovakia CZE
Denmark DEN
East European Russia RUE
Finland FIN
France FRA
Germany GER
Great Britain GRB
Greece GRC
Hungary HUN
Ireland IRE
Italy ITA
Kriti KRI
Krym KRY
Netherlands NET
North European Russia RUN
Northwest European Russia RUW
Norway NOR
NW. Balkan Pen. YUG
Poland POL
Portugal POR
Romania ROM
Sardegna SAR
Sicilia SIC
South European Russia RUS
Spain SPA
Sweden SWE
Switzerland SWI
Türkiye-in-Europe TUE
Ukraine UKR
Altay ALT ASIA-TEMPERATE
East Aegean Is. EAI
Iran IRN
Iraq IRQ
Irkutsk IRK
Kazakhstan KAZ
Kirgizstan KGZ
Krasnoyarsk KRA
Lebanon-Syria LBS
North Caucasus NCS
Palestine PAL
Tadzhikistan TZK
Transcaucasus TCS
Türkiye TUR
Turkmenistan TKM
Uzbekistan UZB
West Siberia WSB
Yakutiya YAK
Algeria ALG AFRICA
Libya LBY
Morocco MOR
Tunisia TUN
West Himalaya WHM ASIA-TROPICAL

Not drawn on the map: Great Britain. We hold no public-domain boundary for this region, so it is listed rather than guessed at.

Region boundaries approximated from Natural Earth (public domain) and mapped to TDWG World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions (WGSRPD) level-3 botanical countries (Brummitt 2001). Indicative, not the official WGSRPD geometry.

Also published as 49 synonyms

A synonym is not an error. It is a record of botanists disagreeing, in print, about where this plant belongs. Each of these was somebody’s considered answer.

  • Sparganium aschersonianum Hausskn.
  • Sparganium barrerae Sennen
  • Sparganium dolichocarpum (Graebn.) G.H.Loos
  • Sparganium draco F.Herm.
  • Sparganium englerianum Graebn.
  • Sparganium erectum subsp. microcarpum (Neuman) Hayek
  • Sparganium erectum subsp. microcarpum (Neuman) Hyl.
  • Sparganium erectum subsp. neglectum Schinz & Thell.
  • Sparganium erectum subsp. polyedrum (Graebn.) Schinz & Thell.
  • Sparganium erectum var. angustifolium Warnst.
  • Sparganium erectum var. neglectum (Beeby) K.Richt.
  • Sparganium erectum var. oocarpum (Čelak.) Hayek
  • Sparganium microcarpum (Neuman) Čelak.
  • Sparganium microcarpum (Neuman) Raunk.
  • Sparganium neglectum Beeby
  • Sparganium neglectum subsp. microcarpum (Neuman) Holub
  • Sparganium neglectum subsp. oocarpum (Čelak.) Ostenf.
  • Sparganium neglectum var. oocarpum Čelak.
  • Sparganium neglectum var. subsimplex Merino
  • Sparganium oocarpum (Čelak.) Fritsch
  • Sparganium polyedrum (Graebn.) Juz.
  • Sparganium ramosum Huds.
  • Sparganium ramosum Curtis
  • Sparganium ramosum f. conocarpum Čelak.

and 25 more.

Sourcesevery claim on this page

  1. World Flora Online Plant List. accepted name, authority, classification. CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-12.
  2. iNaturalist. photographs and flowering annotations, CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA only. per photograph. Retrieved 2026-06-27.
  3. Wikidata. common name (P1843), joined on the World Flora Online identifier (P7715). CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-13.
  4. Kew, World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP v16). native distribution by TDWG level-3 botanical country, and life form. CC BY 3.0. Retrieved 2026-06-04.

We publish what we can source and we say so when we cannot. This page has no care advice and no toxicity claim, because we do not yet have those from a source we can cite.