Plant
Identification
Cattail
 Description Management
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Photos
Typha
spp.
Cattails have flat to slightly
rounded leaves that twist slightly over their length and can grow to
5 or 10 feet in height. Flowers form a dense dark brown, cigar-shape
at the end of spikes (called the catkin). Cattails can be partially
submerged or in boggy areas with no permanently standing water. Cattails
spread rapidly because their seeds blow in the wind and float on the
water's surface and vegetatively they spread from underground rhizomes.
Submerged portions of
all aquatic plants provide habitats for many micro and macro
invertebrates. These invertebrates in turn are used as food by
fish and other wildlife species (e.g. ducks). After aquatic plants
die, their decomposition by bacteria and fungi provides food
(called "detritus") for many aquatic invertebrates. The rhizomes and lower leaf portions of cattails are consumed by nutria, muskrats, and geese.
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" indicates Non-Native plants.