General Plant Information (Edit)
Plant Habit: Herb/Forb
Life cycle: Perennial
Sun Requirements: Full Sun
Full Sun to Partial Shade
Partial or Dappled Shade
Water Preferences: In Water
Wet
Minimum cold hardiness: Zone 3 -40 °C (-40 °F) to -37.2 °C (-35)
Maximum recommended zone: Zone 9b
Plant Height: 36 - 72 inches
Plant Spread: 12 - 18 inches
Fruit: Showy
Flowers: Inconspicuous
Bloom Size: Under 1"
Flower Time: Late spring or early summer
Underground structures: Rhizome
Suitable Locations: Bog gardening
Uses: Water gardens
Medicinal Herb
Vegetable
Will Naturalize
Suitable for forage
Eating Methods: Raw
Cooked
Fermented
Dynamic Accumulator: Nitrogen fixer
Propagation: Seeds: Provide light
Needs specific temperature: fluctuating temperatures
Other info: seeds are minute
Propagation: Other methods: Division
Pollinators: Wind
Containers: Not suitable for containers
Miscellaneous: Monoecious
Conservation status: Least Concern (LC)

Conservation status:
Conservation status: Least Concern
Image
Common names
  • Cattail
  • Common Cattail
  • Broadleaf Cattail
  • Marsh Beetle
  • Marsh Pestle
  • Flaxtail
  • Catninetail
  • Punks
  • Corn Dog Grass
  • Raupo.
  • Broad-Leaf Cat-Tail
  • Common Cat-Tail
  • Water Torch
  • Candlestick
  • Bubrush
  • Bulrush
  • Cossack Asparagus
  • Flags
  • Reed Mace
  • Reedmace
  • Black Cap
  • Blackamoor
  • Cat-o-Nine-Tails
  • Great Reed Mace
  • Bugg Segg
  • Broad-Leaved Cattail

Photo Gallery
Location: Nature reserve, Gent, Belgium
Date: 2008-07-27
Together with Tanacetum vulgare.
Location: Calf Creek, southern Utah
Date: 2015-02-22
Location: Madison Junction, Yellowstone National Park
Date: 2022-08-23
In swampy roadside ditch
Location: Skaneateles Conservation Area
photo credit: R. A. Nonenmacher
Location: Southern Pines, NC (Reservoir Park)
Date: June 23, 2022
Common Cat-tails #158; RAB p. 43, 19-1-1; LHB p. 128, 19-1-1; AG

clipart-fr
Location: Ontario, Canada
Date: 2011-10-05
Fall, beginning to break open to release seeds.
Location: Jefferson County, Nebraska
Date: 2012-07-05

Date: 2014-07-21

Date: 2014-07-21
Location: Newland, NC
Date: 2020-08-08
Cattails growing in about 6 inches of water on the water's edge
Location: Newland, NC
Date: 2020-08-08
I found a few cattail heads in different stages :)
Location: Fairfax, VA | September 2022
Location: Aberdeen, NC Pages Lake park
Date: May 10, 2022
Common Cat-tails #158; RAB p. 43, 19-1-1; LHB p. 128, 19-1-1; AG
Location: Jefferson County, Nebraska
Date: 2012-07-05
Location: Northeastern, Texas
Date: 2014
Location: Inlet, Hamilton County, New York
Date: 2022-07-06
common cattail (Typha latifolia) habitat at edge of bog
Location: Botanical Garden Cologne (Germany)
Date: 2017-09-02
Location: Northeastern, Texas
Date: 2020-08-22
Photo by SongofJoy
Location: Wetlands Area in Northeastern Indiana
Date: 2011-10-03
Location: Ontario, Canada
Date: 2011-09-30
Fall
Location: Tennessee
Date: 2002-11-28
Steven J. Baskauf http://bioimages.vanderbilt.edu/
Location: Northeastern, Texas
Date: 2014

clipart-fr
Location: Ontario, Canada
Date: 2011-10-05
Fall

Credit florum

Credit florum

Date: 2014-07-21

Credit florum

Date: 2014-07-21
Location: Tennessee
Date: 2003-05-26
Steven J. Baskauf http://bioimages.vanderbilt.edu/

Photo credit: Dominicus Johannes Bergsma
Location: Murray, Utah, United States
Date: 2018-03-28

credit: User:Bogdan

Credit florum
Location: Wetlands Area in Northeastern Indiana
Date: 2011-10-03
Location: Tennessee
Date: 2002-06-28
Steven J. Baskauf http://bioimages.vanderbilt.edu/
Location: Nature reserve, Gent, Belgium
Date: 13th February 2008
In the winter.
This plant is tagged in:
Image Image

Comments:
  • Posted by Bonehead (Planet Earth - Zone 8b) on Dec 7, 2013 10:34 AM concerning plant:
    Native in the Pacific Northwest and much of North America, found in marshes, ponds, and ditches. Food source for many marsh animals - wrens, blackbirds, waterfowl and muskrats.
Plant Events from our members
AndreA33 On July 10, 2015 Obtained plant
WebTucker On May 11, 2022 Obtained plant
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