Stems: erect or floating. Leaves: more or less triquetrous, linear, alternate. Flowers: densely crowded in blobose heads at the upper part of the stem. Fruit: nut-like, one-celled.

In bogs, and at the edge of mountain ponds and streams, this common Bur-reed is very abundant. It may readily be recognized, so perfectly does its name describe its two chief characteristics, namely its bur-like brownish flower-heads, and reed-like stems.