Helpful Bur-reeds

Bur-reeds act as important filters at the interface between land and water. Like other wetland plants, they absorb nitrogen, phosphorus and other particulate pollutants in runoff and sediments before they're washed into the water body. Wetland plants have adapted to survive in these areas of low soil oxygen.

The infertile parts of the plant are usually submersed and resemble a grass, but the reproductive structures stand up out of the water in a bold display.

Two commonly found species in Lake Arrowhead are Sparganium emersum (Unbranched Bur-reed), a circumboreal species, and Sparganium americanum (American Bur-reed), a species limited to the United States and Canada. They're part of the cat-tail family.