🌾Cattails: A Water Loving Wild Edible!

🌿 Cattails also known as Typha domingensis are an abundant wetland plant with a unique fluffy flowering spike and flat blade like leaves that reach heights from 3 to 10 feet. They are one of the most common water loving plants and thrive in irrigation ditches, marshes, and on the edge of ponds.

Cattails grow and spread vigorously. The pollinated flowers develop into fluffy seed heads that will blow across a pond in autumn breezes or, they can also spread through their rhizomatous root system.

They prefer shallow, flooded conditions and can easily get established along a pond or in waters up to 1.5 feet in depth.

Some of the medicinal uses of Cattail are its natural antiseptic properties which can be found in the aloe like liquid that can be collected by stripping the leaves away from the base of the plant and rubbing yours hand along the exposed shoot.

This same Medicinal Gel can be used as a topical healing salve for burns, insect bites and bruises.

The Cattail has so many uses it's hard to list them all in this video, but here's a few fun ones. The dried stalks can be made into a hand drill for making primitive fire.

The dried flower stalks are very straight and also make great improvised arrow shafts.

The Fluffy seed head material can be used as a flash tinder for fire starting.

The seed fluff can also be used as a warm insulating stuffing for pillows or bedding.

The leaves woven together can be made into baskets or other containers for holding items. The dried seed head attached to their stalks can be dipped in animal fat or oil and be used as a primitive torch.

Cattail has 25 calories per 100 grams and contains 5.1 grams of Carbohydrate and 1.2 grams of protein. It is a great source of Iron, Phosphorus, dietary fiber, vitamin K, B6, Calcium, magnesium, potassium and manganese.

Well how the heck do ya eat the thing?
The lower parts of the leaves that are less fibrous can be chopped up and used in a salad, The shoots and stalks after removing the outer leaves can be eaten raw or boiled and taste a bit like a mix of cucumber and sweet corn. The young flower spikes or the actual cattail portion that the plant is named after can be roasted and eaten like a mini corn on the cob and the Yellow pollen that appears midsummer can be added to flour mixtures to make cattail bread or pancakes with added nutrients.

Also one more thing to consider! If you see cattails growing on the side of the road or a possibly polluted urban area, don't risk eating them because cattails are a phytoremediator which means they clean and purify air, water and soil of pollutants and store them in their cell tissues. So seek out cattails in a location away from direct contact with human civilization.

Well I hope that helped you all add another wild edible to your foraging repertoire and inspired you to get outside and start learning about the plants around you, always be sure you have properly identified a plant before consuming, but that's why I made this video. To aid in the process of proper identification. So have a great day guys and keep foraging!

[aliyaimani]

I didnt know cattails had properties like aloe vera. Very cool, thanks for the knowledge!

[lordcatboygaming]

Also eatable! The rhizomes can be used as a potato substitute. Though the taste is closer to an artichoke.didnt know about the medicinal properties that's pretty cool thar they can be used to help burns

[upPaintingAB]

Swiss army knife of the swamp. Tons of uses. Tinder, shelter, insulation, food, first-aid. The works.

[pcopeland]

Where can I get seeds? What sort of creatures are attracted? Do they remove nitrogen?