Cat Tail (Typha spp, T. angustifolia, T. latifolia)
Folk Names: Bulrush (England), Cat-o-Nine-Tails, Cattail Flag, Cossack Asparagus, Flag, Punks, Reed Mace (England), Rushes, Tule; T. latifolia -Common Cattail
Description: Typha angustifolia is a perennial found everywhere in North America, but the extreme north. It grows throughout most of the world. T angustifolia is more salt tolerant than its cousin, T. latifolia. Like all reeds, cattail prefers marshes or very wet soil. The rapidly growing rhizome produces one to nine foot culms with long, narrow (less than one-half inch wide), linear, sword-shaped leaves. From May to July, green flowers appear in tandem spikes. The lower spike is a sausage-shaped female, while the upper flower is male. The brown “punk” is the mature fruit (achene).
Effects: strong
Planet: Mars
Element: fire
Associated Deities:
Traditions:
The common name comes from the shape of the leaf, which resembles a cat’s tail emerging from the swamp.
During WWII, American school children gathered down from the cattail and milkweed for use in pillow stuffing, blankets, and fire tinder.
The mature flower (punk) may be dipped in tallow or wax to make a torch.
Magic:
Writers suggest a woman should carry a cattail if she doesn't enjoy sex, but wants to.
Native Americans chewed the starchy hearts of the cattail for snakebite.
Among the Serbs, cattail is known as a vampire deterrent.
Known Combinations:
none noted
Medical Indications: (Caution: The young shoots resemble poisonous iris shoots, so be absolutely sure of identification before you attempt ingesting this plant. Also be sure the water it grows in is uncontaminated.) Parts Used: herb
Eat the flowering head to stop diarrhea.
American Indians mixed the down with animal fat for healing poultice used on bruises and burns. The down is also good for stopping the flow of blood.
Nutrition:
Just about all parts of the cattail are edible. It is considered one of the most versatile of wild foods. An acre of potatoes yields fewer carbohydrates than an acre of cattails, yet few people harvest these plants and the wetlands are quickly disappearing.
A knot of nutritious material can be found just above the rhizome and where the shoot connects to it. This is often referred to as the heart or root (not truly the root). This can be eaten raw or peeled and cooked to your tastes. This part of the cattail becomes less palatable after the plant sends up its flower spike.
The young shoots may be eaten in the winter and spring. Pull back the outer green leaves and grasping the white inner leaves, briskly pull it upward. The bottom twelve inches of the shoot can be eaten once the outer, fibrous layers have been removed. It is described as tasting like celery or cucumber.
The roots may be peeled while still wet and pounded till flour is sifted out. The root core is eaten raw, boiled to a starchy gruel (used to thicken soup), or roasted. Peel off the outer layer of leaves and sauté the core for three to five minutes in butter. Season with drops of soy sauce and a pinch of ginger. The tender cores of young plants are also added to green salad or in Russia, they may be cooked like asparagus.
Boil or steam in salted water and eat the partially developed female spike like corn on the cob. The staminate flowers, mixed with water, may be made into cakes and mush. The male spike may be harvested at mid-June and added to extend flour or for protein.
The ripe pollen can be added to flour for protein. Pollen pancakes are made by shaking pollen into a bowl and mixing equal amounts flour for batter, or it may be added to pancake mix (one-part cattail to two-parts mix). Mix the pollen with raw honey (five-parts cattail to one-part honey) for a high-energy food (refrigerate).
Mercantile Uses:
The dried stalks and twisted leaves are used to weave rush mats or chair seats. The down is useful as tinder and may substitute for kapok fibers used in insulation and cushion stuffing. The rhizome fibers may be twisted into rope, and the culms are useful in making paper.
Environmentally, cattail has been put to good use in the Florida Everglades. As it sucks up the fertilizer tainted water runoff from farms, it ensures cleaner water passes through to the Everglades.