Kansas Wildflowers and Grasses - Broad-leaf cat-tail

BROAD-LEAF CAT-TAIL

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Typha latifolia L.

Konza Prairie, Riley County, Kansas

Perennial

Height: 3.5 - 10 feet tall

Family: Typhaceae - Cat-tail Family

Flowering Period: June, July

Culms:

Erect, stout, unbranched, round in cross-section, without nodes.

Leaves:

Alternate, erect, long-linear, moderately exceed inflorescence, .5 to 1 inch wide, bluish-green to grayish-green, glabrous, flat on back; sheath closed, continuous with blade.

Inflorescences:

Spike, cylindrical, erect, terminal, monoecious; staminate portion above, 3 to 5 inches long, contiguous with pistillate portion; pistillate portion resembles cigar, 4 to 6 inches long, .6 to 1.5 inches thick, green when young, turning brown.

Flowers:

Numerous, minute, packed densely together; perianth lacking; staminate flowers consist of single stamen, drop soon after shedding pollen; pistillate flowers lacking bracts, green when young, turning brown; pistil single, on stalk bearing numerous long, downy hairs; stigmas broadly ovate to lanceolate.

Fruits:

Achene, spindle-shaped, numerous downy hairs at base; seeds nut-like, dispersed by wind.

Habitat:

Marshes, wetlands, pond edges, ditches, and along streams; non-saline soils.

Distribution:

Throughout Kansas.

Uses:

Parts of this plant were extensively used by Native Americans. The roots were used as a food source, in a poultice to dress wounds, and in treatments of kidney stones. The down was used to stuff bedding and as a burn dressing. The pollen was made into flour. The leaves and stalks were used to make mats and baskets and served as a roofing material.

Comments:

Cat-tails are sometimes considered weeds due to their aggressive growth. They are rhizomatous and will form dense colonies. Cat-tails provide wildlife cover.

See also narrow-leaf cat-tail Typha angustifolia.

Broad-leaf cat-tail