Cattail - typha latifolia

Appearance

• 1-3 m tall stems are stout, cylindrical
• Leaves: strap-like, dark grayish-green, about 1-25 cm
• Flowers: brown spike on top of tall stalk

Habitat

• Cattails like to live by water in lagoons, sloughs, lakes, ponds, pools, roadsides, ditches and disturbed wet areas

Growth Habit

• It is a perennial
• It blooms from late June through August

Natural History

• Animals eat the lower stem
• The Quinault used them for mattresses, 
  kneeling pads in canoes, 
  pack sacks, baskets, rain capes, and 
  temporary roofs in summer.
• Food: baked stalk, ate itraw, or ground root as flour
• Fun fact: many birds including red-winged blackbirds, nest in cattails.