Common Cattail
Typha latifolia L.
Typhaceae (Cattail Family)
▲▼ flowering plants along a marshy area
▲▼ flowering plants along a marshy area
▲ inflorescence
▲▼ plants in winter, showing cottony fruit leaving flowering stems
Common Cattail:
· perennial, emergent aquatic weed with rhizomes
· long, thin, tough-textured, upright growing leaves arising from ground-level stem; leaves grow 3-6 tall
· inflorescence a tall stalk with brown, velvety cylindrical structure near top, also 3-6' tall
· found bordering ponds, in wetland areas, along ditches
· two species common here—
o leaves ½” wide or less, tending to twist as they go up
o inflorescences more slender than common cattail
· common cattail
o leaves ½-1.5” wide
o inflorescences usually 1” diameter or larger
Control: post-emergent, translocated herbicides; pulling, dredging; draining wet areas