What are Cattails?
Cattails are wetland plants in the genus Typha. There are eleven species in this genus, mostly native to the northern hemisphere. Typha latifolia is the most widely dispersed kind of cattail in North America. The stiff, brush-like, cylindrical flower spikes have reminded many people of a cat’s tail, hence the common name. In British English, they are commonly called reedmace or bullrush, and in American English they are sometimes known as corndog grass or punks. These wetland plants are spread by rhizomes positioned just below the surface of wet, muddy ground. Often the ground is covered with a few inches of water. Cattails are often the first plants to colonize muddy soil. When they colonize a new area, they are a very important part of converting underwater soil to marshland, which may eventually become dry land. Cattails also spread by seed, which can be widely dispersed, especially by birds. Cattails grow from three to more than 20 feet (one to seven meters) tall, although the aver
As a lover of nature, and more specifically, wild edibles, I am constantly amazed at the versatility of our native crops. There are so many wild edibles that are underutilized, but perhaps the most unappreciated and most widespread is the humble cattail. The cattail is useful for other things, such as rope, stuffing for pillows and mattresses, and of course, as weaving material, but in this article, I’m going to focus on the cattail’s use as a wild edible. You can’t gather cattails without knowing what they look like, so I’ll give you a description of them. The roots look like spaghetti, coming from the thick rootstocks, which are filled with white starchy fibres. The rootstocks come from a cattail that is already established, and they have a pointy sprout, or shoot, on the end. The swordlike leaves emerge in early spring, and are pale green in color. The stems appear later with a female flower head, which is green at first, but turns brown later. Above this is the male flower spike, w
