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Cattails (Typha angustifolia, latifolia, and/or domingensis) are a conspicuous part of many wildlands. They are present beside all still waters, emblem of the riparian system. Whether they are part of the wetlands, the riparian areas and lowland forests, or field environments may be fun to debate. What ever the end of the debate, they are widespread and have major positive as well as negative benefits. Cattails are an invaluable food and cover plant for some species of animals (typically muskrats, some ducks and rails, wrens, and blackbirds). They have been grazed by livestock. They protect pond and lake edges from wave and wind erosion and provide nesting areas for some species. They are a part of some waste disposal systems. They can be invasive and occupy much of the open-water condition created for some wild animals as well as for human recreation.They have become part of a dried-flower decoration product from lands. They have been widely distributed as plants for water gardens (a practice that will further extend their distribution and status as a weed. Beule (1979) noted that uniform, vast areas of cattails "restrict biodiversity." Managing them can be important to many interests.
Since 1949 when Hotchkiss and Dozier described the taxonomy and distribution of cattails in the US, they seem to have have become more widespread, it seem to this author. In New York they were called "flags." Muskrats favor T. angustifolia, var. elongata more than T.latifolia. The soft flag or latifolia was used for cane in weaving chair seats. "Angustifolia" was used for caulking barrels. Intergradations of the species are evident. Domingensis seems limited in Virginia to coastal areas (saline conditions). Latifolia tolerates acid conditions.
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| Typical growth of cattail plant with fruiting head. |
The rhizomes are eaten by muskrats. Rhizomes, in spring, contain 50% starch, sugars, and carbohydrates. When leafy shoots develop during June, food supply drops to 5%. By September, they are 70% carbohydrates. Rhizomes must "breath" during the winter. The residual leaf "tubes" provide oxygen under the ice. Mowing and burning to coincide with the low point of carbohydrate storage and water being over the cut or damaged stems before ice-over can kill cattails. Treating small areas within the often-vast fields can supress the cattails and increase desireable conditions for many species of wild animals.
The growth of leaves is 1 inch per day, but 7 inches is the maximum on record (Linde 1974). It stops in mid July.
When the spike develops, but before pollen forms, new rhizome buds form and growth begins. This is the sensitive growth period. The tip of the bud turns up in late July or early August and become an aerial sprout (about 6 inches). It does not leaf out until the next spring.
To eliminate cattails, burn or mow and flood the plants. Roots require oxygen.
Each cattail spike contains about 250,000 seeds, half of which are fertile, and they can be viable for up to 5.5 years.
The attractive seed "spikes" or flags have the male portion at the top, female flowerettes at the bottom. After pollenation occurs, the male part may drop off.
References
Beule, J.D. 1979. Control and management of cattails in Southeastern Wisconsin wetlands. Tech. Bul. 112, Dept. Natural Resources, Madison, Wisconsin 39pp.
Hotchkiss, N. and H.L. Dozier. 1949. Taxonomy and distribution of N. American cat-tails. Amer. Midland Naturalist 41(1): 237-254.
Linde, A.F. 1969. Techniques of wetland management. Wis. Dept. Nat. Resources, Res. Rpt. 45, 156pp.
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Last revision July 20, 2001.