Southern Cattail
Typha domingensis

Family: Typhaceae

What it is like

Typha domingensis is a PERENNIAL growing to 3 m (9ft 10in). See above for USDA hardiness. It is hardy to UK zone 5. The species is monoecious (individual flowers are either male or female, but both sexes can be found on the same plant) and is pollinated by Wind. Suitable for: light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils. Suitable pH: mildly acid, neutral and basic (mildly alkaline) soils and can grow in saline soils. It cannot grow in the shade. It prefers wet soil and can grow in water.

Height (m): 3

Where it is found

Brackish to fresh marshes and pools in N. America at elevations from sea level to 2000 metres.

Widespread in tropical, subtropical and warm temperate regions.

Conservation Status: Status: Least Concern

Countries/locations it is found in

Africa, Asia, Australia*, Central America, Cuba, Dominican Republic, East Africa, East Timor, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guiana, Guinea, Guinée, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, India, Iraq, Jamaica, Mozambique, New Zealand, North America, Pakistan, Puerto Rico, SE Asia, Senegal, South America*, Suriname, Tasmania*, Timor-Leste, USA, Venezuela, West Africa, West Indies*, Zambia,

How it is used

Food

Rating: 4

Rhizomes - raw or cooked. A sweet flavour. Rich in starch, around 30 - 46%, they can be boiled and eaten like potatoes or macerated and then boiled to yield a sweet syrup. The rhizome can also be dried, ground into a powder and then used as a thickener in soups etc or added to cereal flours. Rich in protein, this flour is used to make biscuits, bread, cakes etc. The rhizomes at the base of erect shoots are mostly horizontal, unbranched, up to 70 cm long and 5 - 40mm in diameter. They are starchy, firm and scaly. The root contains a lot of fibre. One way to remove this fibre is to peel lengths of the root that are about 20 - 25cm long, place them by a fire for a short while to dry and then twist and loosen the fibres when the starch of the root can be shaken out. Young shoots in spring - raw or cooked. An asparagus substitute. The inner core is eaten. The young shoots are cut from the underground stems in the spring when they are about 10 - 40cm long. The base of the mature stem - raw or cooked. It is best to remove the outer part of the stem. The base of the stem where it attaches to the rhizome can be boiled or roasted like potatoes. Young flowering stem - raw, cooked or made into a soup. Tastes like sweet corn. Seed - cooked. The seed is rather small and fiddly to utilize, but has a pleasant nutty taste when roasted. Edible oil is obtained from the seed. The seeds contain about 18 - 20% oil, of which 69% is linolenic acid. Due to the small size of the seed, this is probably not a very worthwhile crop. Pollen - raw or cooked. A protein-rich additive to flour used in making bread, porridge etc. It can also be eaten with the young flowers, which makes it considerably easier to utilize. The pollen is a bright yellow or green colour, and turns pancakes, cookies or biscuits a pretty yellow colour. The pollen can be harvested by placing the flowering stem over a wide but shallow container and then gently tapping the stem and brushing the pollen off with a fine brush. This will help to pollinate the plant and thereby ensure that both pollen and seeds can be harvested.

Oil: Oil

Root: includes bulbs, corms, tubers, rhizomes etc.

Seed: includes nuts, cereals, peas and beans.

Stem: this often intergrades into leaves.

Medicine

Rating: 3

The leaves are diuretic. The pollen is astringent, desiccant, diuretic, haemostatic and vulnerary. It is used in the treatment of nose bleeds, haematemesis, haematuria, uterine bleeding, dysmenorrhoea, postpartum abdominal pain and gastralgia, scrofula and abscesses. It is contraindicated for pregnant women. The seed down is haemostatic. The rootstock is astringent and diuretic.

Astringent: Produces contraction in living tissue, reducing the flow of secretions and discharges of blood, mucus, diarrhoea etc.

Diuretic: Acts on the kidneys, promoting the flow of urine.

Haemostatic: Controls internal bleeding.

Miscellany: Various medicinal actions that need more clarification.

Vulnerary: Promotes the healing of wounds.

Other

Rating: 3

Agroforestry Uses: The plant's extensive root system makes it very good for stabilizing wet banks of rivers, lakes etc. It can be grown in reed beds and other water purification systems in order to remove various kinds of pollutants from the water and soil. The top growth is removed once or twice during the growing season - it can either be used as a fuel or the materials recovered from it. Other Uses: The stems and leaves have many uses, they make a good thatch, being used on roofs, to make walls and floor coverings. They can be used in weaving to make items such as mats, chairs, hats and other handicrafts. They can be used as a caulking material for barrels, boats etc. A fibre obtained from the leaves and stems can be used in making paper. A fibre obtained from the roots can be used for making string. The plant produces large amounts of biomass, comparable to the most productive agricultural crops. This is a potential source of energy - it can, for example, be used for alcohol manufacture. On a domestic level, the stems make an excellent addition to the compost heap or can be dried and used as a source of fuel etc. The hairs of the fruits are used as a stuffing material for pillows, mattresses, toys etc. They have good buoyancy properties and have been used in life preservers. They also have excellent insulation properties and have been used in construction. The female flowers make an excellent tinder and can be lit from the spark of a flint. The pollen is highly inflammable and is used in making fireworks.

Biomass: Provides a large quantity of plant material that can be converted into fuel etc.

Compost: Plants used for activating compost heaps, providing biomass for composting, using as instant compost etc.

Fibre: Used for making cloth, rope, paper etc.

Filter: Used to strain out particles from liquids.

Fuel: Usually wood, plant materials that have been mentioned as being a good fuel.

Insulation: Providing insulation against extremes of temperature, sound or electricity.

Miscellany: A rag-bag of items that are difficult to categorise.

Oil: Vegetable oils have many uses, as lubricants, lighting, soap and paint making, waterproofing etc. This does not include the edible oils unless they are also mentioned as having other uses.

Paper: Related to the entry for Fibre, these plants have been specifically mentioned for paper making.

Roofing: Used to give a waterproof roof to buildings. See also Thatching.

Soil stabilization: Plants that can be grown in places such as sand dunes in order to prevent erosion by wind, water or other agents.

String: Plants that can be used for string or can be easily made into a string. See also Fibre. Plants for ropes may be included.

Stuffing: Used in making soft toys, mattresses, pillows etc.

Thatching: Used for making thatched roofs.

Tinder: Used for starting fires. See also Kindling.

Waterproofing: Does what it says. See also Pitch and Oil.

Weaving: Items such as grass and palm leaves that are woven together for making mats, baskets etc. See also Basket making and Fibre.

Food Forest: Plants for Edible Forest Gardens and Food Forests.

How it is grown

A plant of the warm temperate zone through to the tropics, where it is found at elevations up to 1,500 metres. It grows best in areas where annual daytime temperatures are within the range 16 - 28°c, but can tolerate 14 - 30°c. When dormant, the plant can survive temperatures down to about -25°c, but young growth can be severely damaged at 0°c. It prefers a mean annual rainfall in the range 400 - 1,400mm, but tolerates 250 - 1,600mm. Succeeds in sun or part shade. Grows in boggy pond margins or shallow water to 15cm deep. Requires a rich wet soil if it is to well. Tolerates moderate levels of salt. Prefers a pH in the range 6.5 - 7.5, tolerating 6 - 8. Plants can be very invasive, spreading freely at the roots when in a suitable site. Typha domingensis aggressively invades and forms nearly pure stands in brackish or nutrient-enriched wetlands in the Florida Everglades and elsewhere. It is established but does not mature fruits on the cold coast of northern California.

Propagating it: Seed - surface sow in a pot and stand it in 3cm of water. Pot up the young seedlings as soon as possible and, as the plants develop, increase the depth of water. Plant out in summer. Division in spring. Very easy, harvest the young shoots when they are about 10 - 30cm tall, making sure there is at least some root attached, and plant them out into their permanent positions.

Best place to grow: Pond; Bog Garden;

Habit: Perennial

Hardiness: 5-12

Growth:

Soil: Light (sandy), medium, heavy (clay)

Shade: No shade

Moisture: Wet, water

Things to keep in mind

Its other names

Local names

Kaylampa, Lesser cats tail, Malo, Maranda, Poorteetch, Reedmace, Tabua, Wonga,, al-sa’ait, al-sa’d, bardi, cattail, cattail (typha domingensis), cumbungi, enugajamu, ghaabaajariyu, gondpater, gundra, gundra? (rhizome and fruit), gun?ha?, gu??ha?, hogalap, jammugaddi, lesser indian reed-mace, lesser reed-mace, narrow-leaf cumbungi, paankanis, pater, piripepe, pirivevýi, ramban, semercik koza, southern cattail, totora.

Synonyms

T. angustata. Bory-Chaubard.