I have a natural 'pond' in my yard.. maybe bog? Who knows. It dries out at times in the summer so not really a pond. It is filled with cattails although these cattails seem smaller and mature much slower than the ones in the pond near my work. The ones at work are already done with pollen season while the ones at my home haven't even made visible 'tails' yet. Also, the roots at my house tend to make a gross rusty orange type of 'flour' if I try to harvest the roots so I don't even try anymore - afraid they are contaminated with something. We have a LOT of natural iron in the sand around here, anyone with a well system for their sprinklers has a red line on anything the sprinklers touch. I suspect it is related to that.

Anyway, any idea on the type here? There was a single much MUCH larger one in the pond which I took a picture of too, you can see the tail almost coming out on that one.

Thanks!

My eyes aren't the best but it looks like Common Cattail, Cattail (Typha latifolia) to me.

Appears to be Hybrid Cattail (Typha x glauca).

I'm actually surprised to see Typha latifolia these days. In many parts of the country it has largely been overrun and replaced by Typha x glauca during the past 20 years or so.

Kent, I didn't realize that! By the way ... I just submitted a proposal to delete an image I have at the entry for T. latifolia because it's actually T. domingensis; didn't propose to move it because I already have photos at T. domingensis.

KentPfeiffer said:Appears to be Hybrid Cattail (Typha x glauca).

I'm actually surprised to see Typha latifolia these days. In many parts of the country it has largely been overrun and replaced by Typha x glauca during the past 20 years or so.

Thanks! What features makes it look like hybrid vs common?

The simplest way to separate them is by looking at the positions of the male and female flowers. In Typha latifolia the male flowers sit directly above the female flowers while in the hybrid there's about a one inch gap between them. Obviously, we are looking at last year's flower heads which makes things harder to discern, but I'm fairly certain I can see where the male flowers were and the gap that separated them from the female flowers.

Typha latifolia has "thicker" heads than the hybrid. I tell people 'If the head is shaped like a corn dog, it's probably common cattail. If it's shaped like a hot dog, it's more likely the hybrid. Lastly, the hybrid is much more aggressive than our original cattails and forms dense, nearly mono-cultural stands wherever it finds favorable conditions. Your first picture just has the "look" of a stand of hybrid cattail.

Ahhh - yes, you are right, the new ones out there have that gap too.

There are three species that grow in Minnesota, Typha angustifolia, Typha latifolia, and the hybrid Typha X glauca.

Here is a pdf document about the comparison.

http://www.bwsr.state.mn.us/we...

Thanks! Based on that, I'm thinking I have the narrow leaf and not hybrid, since the female portion is not very long. I'll have to take note when I'm out in the morning to see. Also, this is not a 'healthy wetland' but rather an urban 'ditch' that often fills with water but does dry out completely at times. Thus, the common cattail might not even be able to live there.