Typha shuttleworthii is one of the rarer species of the genus although it probably is often overlooked or confused with T. latifolia.

Characteristics of T. shuttleworthii that can be used to distinguish it from T. latifolia are:

• The male inflorescence (spike) is much shorter than the female one.
• The maximum width of the leaves is usually (not always!) lower (T. latifolia can also have narrow leaves but often they are wider).
• The fruiting spikes have a somewhat silvery colour.
• The diaspores and seeds are smaller (the diaspores I collected and meassured were around 7 mm long).

This location is the only known place in Vienna where T. shuttleworthii can be found.