Common Cattail (The Marsh Ecosystem at the Watershed Center )

Common Cattail

Typha latifolia

Common Cattail ²

Identification
Common cattails have thick leaves that are 1 inch thick and are bluish or gray-green. You can easily recognize a cattail by its brown, cigar-like head. The cigar-shaped head, called a candlewick, has thousands of tiny seeds. The candlewick is at the very top of the cattail stem. They can be often found in open damp areas, also known as a marshes.

Niche

Energy Role
Cattails are producers. They are eaten by geese and muskrats, and cattail moth caterpillars eat the seeds. They can also provide food for humans. The outer part of a young cattail can be peeled and the heart can be eaten raw or boiled.

Other Roles in the Ecosystem
Cattails produce pollen which spreads the seeds to different places. They are the first to colonize areas of commonly exposed mud. Cattails are good for starting a fire. Their stems can be used to make paper. Blackbirds sit on the cattail heads. Blackbirds also nest on the heads of the cattails. Muskrats use cattails to have their nests in. White-tailed deer, raccoons, and turkeys use them to hide.

Sources:

http://www.ediblewildfood.com/cattail.aspx

http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/minnaqua/speciesprofile_cattail/index.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cattails

http://www.fcps.edu/islandcreekes/ecology/common_cattail.htm