Cattails

Introduction

These hardy plants provide food and shelter for animals and humans who know about their many uses. In the benefits section we explore their many uses, however it is important to distinguish between natives and alien invasives before propagating these. 

These play an important role in pollution clean up, supporting biodiversity, and have many uses from medical and edible to various crafting and textile uses. They even show promise as a biofuel source.

Benefits of Bulrush

Biodiversity

Edible to Wildlife

"mallard ducks and Canada geese who eat the cattail roots. Painted turtles, often seen sunning themselves on logs ... during the summer, eat the cattails’ seeds and stems." - Cattail: Plant of a Thousand Uses

Nesting

"Female red-winged blackbirds — less showy than their boasting male counterparts — hide at the base of the cattails, nesting and raising their young." "And many songbirds, such as cedar waxwings, line their nests with cattail down." - Cattail: Plant of a Thousand Uses

Invasive Plant

"Cattails, for all their various uses, are an invasive plant and are still often seen as an annoyance by property owners and wetlands conservationists. Cattails propagate both through their seeds—widely dispersed by the wind and birds—and through the extensive network of roots just below the mud’s surface. This advantage helps them to crowd out other important wetland plant species. However, careful stewardship of cattails within wetland areas might go a long way toward preserving the plant’s many benefits to the waterways and to the species that live and feed on them."  - Cattail: Plant of a Thousand Uses

Biofuel

Somewhat recently "scientists have claimed the potential for cattails to be used as biofuel." - Cattail: Plant of a Thousand Uses

Clean Water

"Like many other wetland plants, cattails bio-accumulate toxins. When harvesting cattails for consumption, it is important to collect them from a clean source, away from roads and buildings. But because cattails absorb water pollutants, this also makes them very useful in keeping water systems clean. Urban gardeners frequently plant cattails in small ponds as a barrier between the exhaust fumes from roadways and fruit trees or vegetable plots. Cattails have also been successfully used in cleaning up a range of toxins that have leached into waterways, such as arsenic, pharmaceuticals, explosives, phosphorous, and methane."

Warning: Invasiveness! 

"Cattails, for all their various uses, are an invasive plant and are still often seen as an annoyance by property owners and wetlands conservationists. Cattails propagate both through their seeds—widely dispersed by the wind and birds—and through the extensive network of roots just below the mud’s surface. This advantage helps them to crowd out other important wetland plant species. However, careful stewardship of cattails within wetland areas might go a long way toward preserving the plant’s many benefits to the waterways and to the species that live and feed on them."  - Cattail: Plant of a Thousand Uses

Food

"Cattails are also a culinary delicacy and all parts of the plant can be eaten. The sweet fiber in cattail roots provides an abundance of starchy carbohydrates; the new stalk shoots can be eaten to obtain Vitamins A, B, and C, potassium, and phosphorous; and the seeds can be ground and used as a flour substitute. The roots and stalks can be baked, boiled, fried, or, if harvested from a pristine area, eaten raw. Cattails can be used in recipes for pancakes and bread, casseroles, and stir fry." - Cattail: Plant of a Thousand Uses

Safety Warning!

"Like many other wetland plants, cattails bio-accumulate toxins. When harvesting cattails for consumption, it is important to collect them from a clean source, away from roads and buildings." - Cattail: Plant of a Thousand Uses

Medicine

This site isn't intended to be used as a medical resource, so please do your own research before relying on anything you may learn here.

"Cattails also provide two forms of antiseptic; both the ashes from burned cattail leaves and the droplets of sap that form at the plant’s base can be applied to wounds to keep them from getting infected. The sap can also be used on toothaches." - Cattail: Plant of a Thousand Uses

"Seed fluff can also be used like cotton balls to staunch a wound, and poultices made from crushed cattail roots can be used on cuts, stings, burns, and bruises." - Cattail: Plant of a Thousand Uses

Survival Tools

"The dried stalks can be used as arrow shafts or hand drills, and the seed fluff can be used as tinder to start a fire." - Cattail: Plant of a Thousand Uses

Textiles & Construction

The fluff from bulrush can be used to stuff pillows and toys, as an eco-friendly alternative to bird feathers or polyester stuffing. The fluff also functions as insulation.

"The leaves can be woven together to make temporary shelters, mats, chairs, baskets, and hats."   - Cattail: Plant of a Thousand Uses