Broadleaf Cattail

Description:

Learned today that cattail is a unisexual plant. The male flower is the wrinkly, yellow part on top; it falls away after it sheds its pollen. The female flower is the sausage-shaped part just below it on the stem, the part we all recognize when it turns brown. Who knew?

Habitat:

Grows wherever there's water ... ponds, ditches, culverts. These cattails almost completely encircle a small pond. Also called Common Cattail.

Notes:

Just a couple of interesting facts from a student project at the University of Wisconsin, see last website reference ... It can grow in areas of high acidity or containing heavy metal allowing it to be used in secondary waste water treatment. The fluff from the seeds was used to make dressings for sores and burns by the Sioux and other tribes of the Missouri River region. The roots and leaf bases were made into a tea to treat stomach cramps by the Cheyenne. Seed fluff is used in quilts, diapers, torches, pillows, mattresses, upholstery, filling in basketballs and life jackets. Pollen is used as flour, known to be good in pancakes. Flower spikes can be cooked and eaten like corn on the cob.