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Project Noah Nature School
Typha latifolia
An erect, rhizomatous, semiaquatic or aquatic, perennial herb. Leaves are basal, erect, linear, flat, D-shaped in cross section; 1/3"-3/4" wide and 3'-10' tall; 12-16 leaves arising from each vegetative shoot. Pale grayish-green in color. The linear leaves are thick, ribbon-like structures with a spongy cross-section exhibiting air channels. The leaves typically do not extend above the spike. The stem is erect, 5'-10' tall, 3/8"-3/4" diameter in middle, tapering to 1/8"-1/4" near flower structure. Rhizomes stout, typically ¼"-1¼" in diameter and up to 27" in length, growing 3"-4" below the soil surface. Flower structure a dense, dark brown, cylindrical spike on the end of a stout, 3'-10' stem. The staminate (male) portion is positioned above the pistillate (female) portion; they are continuous or slightly separated. Flowers May/June. Male flower is brown, minute, 3/16"-1/2" long, thickly clustered on a club-like spadix; anthers 1mm-3 mm long. Female flower is tiny, 2mm-3mm long, when in flower, 10mm-15mm (3/8"-5/8") when in fruit. Female fruiting spike is pale green when in flower, drying to brownish, later blackish brown or reddish brown, in fruit, often mottled with whitish patches of pistil-hair tips. Fruit is a tiny, tufted nutlet. Seeds are minute and numerous
Almost anywhere soil remains wet, saturated, or flooded most of the growing season. Common habitats include wet meadows, marshes, fens, pond and lake margins, floating bog mats, seacoast estuaries, roadside ditches, irrigation canals, oxbow lakes, and backwater areas of rivers and streams. This one was photographed at Phinizy Swamp Nature Park near Augusta (Richmond County), GA.
It's also known as Common Cattail. Much use has been made of this common plant, including: thatch for roofing, or woven into mats, chairs, hats. It is a source of fiber for rayon and a crude, greenish brown paper. It is used for torches and tinder. The pollen is used in making fireworks. It's also been used for pillow stuffing, insulation, crude floatation devices, wound dressing, and lining for diapers. In recent years, has been proposed as a biomass crop for renewable energy. Has shown a tolerance to high concentrations of lead, zinc, copper, and nickel. Has been employed in secondary waste water treatment schemes. In the spring, the emerging plant can be eaten. Slightly later in the season, in late April or early May, the tender developing spike is also edible. After the flower spike is mature (after it extends above the leaves), it becomes tough and inedible. Many consider the young plant and its tender spike to be delicacies.
Spotted on Jul 29, 2012
Submitted on Mar 22, 2013
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