Wild Edible Plant of the Week - Cattail

Cattail
Typha Latifolia

I am sure that everyone knows what a cattail looks like. I bet they could even pick it out of a line up of different pictures. Everyone can see in their mind the big and brown ”hot dog” tip that they used to crumble up and let the fluff fly everywhere. Remember that stuff - it got everywhere.

Now that you know what it is, I am betting not many people know the significance this plant. Not only does it provide a great habitat for other animals, but it also helps to keep lakes, streams, and other bodies of water healthy by filtering harmful run-off. This in turn helps to reduce nutrients and mud from destroying delicate ecosystems.

Think about the long, slender, flat leaves. They have been used to create many useful items to the outdoorsman. Things such as floor mats, furniture, baskets, and then, waterproof with pine pitch, you have a good water-carrying “canteen”. All this by drying the leaves and soaking them in water to make pliable and then just weaving.

I remember using the straight stalks as arrows. To test all my homemade weaponry, such as ballistas, crossbows, and recurves. Worked great for testing purposes.

The “hot dog” tip can be broken apart and all the fluff used as a good insulator against any cold camping nights that you may have. It retains heat pretty well if not wet. The fluff is also a good tinder in fire making. Catches a spark pretty well if not damp. If you can keep it dry it would be all the better.

Now that you have been distracted by the many useful things of this plant, let's talk about the really good stuff ... eating it. Now don't throw up your nose or you will never know what you are missing. This plant can be a life-saver. The roots or tubers, as well as the lower portions of the stalk, are full of starches and carbohydrates - just what you need for that boost of energy. They can be eaten raw, roasted on a “hot rock” that you put in your campfire, or baked in the hot ash.

The lower part of the stem can be dried and ground into “baking flour” to make bread. Mix in some of the yellow pollen at the top and you have some good eating. The pollen itself is a kind of flour on its own.

So the next time you see a “cattail”, instead of calling it an eyesore or just a weed, think about what some of our ancestors had to do to stay alive. I can bet that “cattail” was one of the easier things to do to keep from dying.

Next Wild Edible Plant - Dandelion

Image courtesy of James L. Reveal and USDA Plants Database at http://www.rook.org