BC Conservation Data Centre: Species Summary
Sparganium fluctuans
water bur-reed
| Scientific Name: | Sparganium fluctuans (Morong) B.L. Robins. | ||||||||||
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| English Name: | water bur-reed | ||||||||||
| Classification / Taxonomy | |||||||||||
| Scientific Name - Concept Reference: | Kartesz, J.T. 1994. A synonymized checklist of the vascular flora of the United States, Canada, and Greenland. 2nd edition. 2 vols. Timber Press, Portland, OR. | ||||||||||
| Classification Level: | Species | ||||||||||
| Species Group: | Vascular Plant | ||||||||||
| Species Code: | SPARFLU | ||||||||||
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| Conservation Status / Legal Designation | |||||||||||
| Global Status: | G5 (Jan 2025) | ||||||||||
| Provincial Status: | S4 (Apr 2019) | ||||||||||
| BC List: | Yellow | ||||||||||
| Provincial FRPA list: | |||||||||||
| Provincial Wildlife Act: | |||||||||||
| COSEWIC Status: | |||||||||||
| SARA Schedule: | |||||||||||
| General Status Canada: | 4 - Secure (2010) | ||||||||||
| Ecology & Life History | |||||||||||
| General Description: | |||||||||||
| Technical Description: | |||||||||||
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| Global Reproduction Comments: | Flowering and fruiting occurs from July to September (Les 2020). | ||||||||||
| Habitats: (Type / Subtype / Dependence) |
Lakes / Lake / Obligate
Lakes / Pond/Open Water / Obligate |
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| Global Habitat Comments: | Sparganium fluctuans occurs in a variety of freshwater environments, including streams, lakes, ponds, rivers, and marshes, at elevations up to 1,173 meters (Les 2020). While this species typically occurs in water depths ranging from 0.5 to 2 meters, it can survive temporarily when stranded on mud during low water periods. Sparganium fluctuans can grow in various substrate types such as clay, gravel, sand, and muck, and it prefers quiet, cold waters that are either acidic or slightly alkaline (pH 4.9?8.5). These waters tend to be oligotrophic, with low alkalinity, chloride, magnesium, and sulfate levels. | ||||||||||
| Provincial Phenology: (1st half of month/ 2nd half of month) |
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| Elevation (m) (min / max): | Provincial: | ||||||||||
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| Pollinator: | |||||||||||
| Dispersal: | |||||||||||
| Provincial Inventory | |||||||||||
| Inventory Priority: | |||||||||||
| Ownership of occurrences (Known locations): | |||||||||||
| Inventory Need: | |||||||||||
| Economic Attributes | |||||||||||
| Distribution | |||||||||||
| Endemic: | N | ||||||||||
| Global Range Comment: | Sparganium fluctuans occurs in northern North America from Washington, Idaho, and British Columbia east to Newfoundland and Pennsylvania in the United States and Canada (Kartesz 1996, FNA 2000, Weakley and the Southeastern Flora Team 2024). Range extent was estimated using herbarium specimens, photo-based observations, and NatureServe Network occurrence data collected between 1994 and 2025 (GBIF 2025, iNaturalist 2025, NatureServe 2025, SEINet 2025). | ||||||||||
| Disjunct, more common elsewhere: | |||||||||||
| Peripheral, major distribution elsewhere: | |||||||||||
| Authors / Contributors | |||||||||||
| Global Information Author: | N. Ventrella (2025) | ||||||||||
| Last Updated: | Jan 10, 2025 | ||||||||||
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| Last Updated: | |||||||||||
| Last Literature Search: | |||||||||||
| References and Related Literature | |||||||||||
Douglas, G.W., D. Meidinger, and J. Penny. 2002. Rare Native Vascular Plants of British Columbia, 2nd ed. B.C. Conserv. Data Centre, Terrestrial Inf. Branch, Victoria. 358pp. |
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Douglas, G.W., D. Meidinger, and J. Pojar, eds. 2001b. Illustrated Flora of British Columbia, Vol. 7, Monocotyledons (Orchidaceae through Zosteraceae). B.C. Minist. Sustainable Resour. Manage., and B.C. Minist. For. Victoria, BC. 379pp. |
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Flora of North America Editorial Committee (FNA). 2000. Flora of North America north of Mexico. Vol. 22. Magnoliophyta: Alismatidae, Arecidae, Commelinidae (in part), and Zingiberidae. Oxford Univ. Press, New York. xxiii + 352 pp. |
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Les, D. 2020. Aquatic Monocotyledons of North America: Ecology, Life History, and Systematics. CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL. 568 pp. |
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Lomer, F., and G.W. Douglas. 1999. Additions to the Vascular Plant Flora of the Queen Charlotte Islands, British Columbia. Can. Field-Nat. 113(2):235-240. |
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Please visit the website Conservation Status Ranks for definitions of the data fields used in this summary report.
Suggested Citation:
B.C. Conservation Data Centre. 2025. Species Summary: Sparganium fluctuans. B.C. Minist. of Environment. Available: https://a100.gov.bc.ca/pub/eswp/ (accessed Jun 4, 2026).