Sparganium americanum, American bur-reed, is a perennial plant found in the United States of America and Canada.

In the United States, American bur-reed is found in Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Washington DC, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, Michigan, Missouri, Mississippi, North Carolina, North Dakota, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Vermont, Wisconsin, and West Virginia.

In Canada, American bur-reed can be found in Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Prince Edward, and Quebec.

[2]It lives in peaty to sandy soils along lakeshores, slow moving streams and as floating vegetation in boggy lakes.

[4] In a paper by the State University of New York at Binghamton, scientists showed that S. americanum accrued more aboveground biomass and lower belowground biomass than the other four wetland plant species the study looked at; Phalaris arundinacea, Scirpus cyperinus, Juncus effusus, and Calamagrostis canadensis.

In the short run, American bur-reed is helpful in retaining nutrients from agricultural runoff.