Broad-fruited Burreed

Sparganium eurycarpum

Pollinator Value

🐛 Larval Host: Archanara laeta (Bur-reed Borer Moth)
S14 Noctuidae, Nearctic; S10 larvae of the Bur-reed Borer Moth
❄️ Winter Food Source: Persistent achene-like drupes provide winter forage for American Coot (Rallidae), Mallard (Anatidae), and Sandhill Crane (Gruidae). Seeds remain attached through fall and into winter. Muskrats also consume rhizomes and foliage year-round.
S57 S11 Fruit/Seed Persistence=Yes; S10 ducks, muskrats

Proximity Score: 0
Native Status: ✅ Outaouais ✅ Ottawa ✅ QC ✅ ON
Closest Direction: Local
CEC Eco-Regions: 5 – Northern Forests, 5.2 – Mixed Wood Shield, 5.2.3 – Algonquin/Southern Laurentians
Rarity Notes: Globally secure (G5) and nationally secure in Canada (N5). Ranked S5 in Ontario and S4 in Quebec. Not listed under SARA or COSEWIC. Common throughout the Ottawa-Gatineau region with numerous herbarium records and observations.
S22 S26
Rarity Ranks: QC S4 – Apparently Secure, ON S5 – Secure
Migration: Stable
Ecological Context: Emergent aquatic herb of shallow marshes, fens, lakeshores, and slow-moving rivers. Typically rooted in muddy or mucky substrates in circumneutral to basic water up to 0.5 m deep. Forms dense stands in fertile wetlands, often co-occurring with Typha spp. and Scirpus spp. Widely distributed across the Ottawa-Gatineau region in both riverine and lacustrine habitats.
S10 S7 S61 S48

Roles: Fortress/Barrier
S73/S29/S72 Evidence: Fortress/Barrier: S10 keyword match: prickl (supporting signal only)]

Category: Febrifuge, Veterinary Aid, Traditional Chinese Medicine
S28 Iroquois febrifuge + veterinary; S36 TCM Rhizoma Sparganii
Notes: Iroquois used an infusion of the whole plant with other leaves for chills (febrifuge). Also used in compound preparations as a veterinary aid for difficult calf births and as a poultice for body soreness. Health Canada lists the rhizome (Rhizoma Sparganii) as an approved traditional Chinese medicine ingredient, prepared as decoctions or powdered extracts.
S28 S36

✅ Edible

Foraging Notes: Klamath people ate the bulb at the base of the stem and the rootstocks. Okanagan-Colville used the plant as hay for cattle. These are historical indigenous and traditional uses rather than common culinary practice.
S28 S61