Cattail

kind of hard to imagine eating the things in this picture...but i read it on the internet so it must be true

In Texas, where I'm from, I've heard that cattails were a major food source for Indians. I found this about eating the seeds:

"After the flowers have gone to seed, parch the fluffy stuff so that the seeds get nice and toasted. Sprinkle them on salads or eat by the hand as a tasty toasted nutty snack."

The light catches the seeds really well, it's a really good picture.