I recently had heard there was a opportunity to volunteer at a habitat restoration project from a good friend who happened to be involved with the local U.S. Fish and Wildlife folks who were hosting the event.
In this article, I discuss the efforts taken at the Shoshone Springbrook Restoration Project, and share some tips and tricks in foraging, harvesting, and cooking with cattail.
Springbrook Restoration Project
Apart from planting native species of bulrush, they were also planning on removing cattail that had overtaken the channel. Instead of having all of the cattail thrown away, I reached out to the event organizers and asked if I could take some cattail shoots home to cook up and they graciously agreed to it!
We dug up wetland plants from various sites in Shoshone (wetland plugs), placed them in buckets, and planted them along the springbrook channel. We gathered and sowed spikerush, three-square bulrush, and saltgrass. We caged the transplanted plants to protect them from herbivores and watered them all to remove any air bubbles that may have formed during the transplanting.
We covered the weed barrier plastic sheet with dirt and plants so that it doesn’t fly away during severe wind events or storms. My favorite task was removing invasive cattails from the channel and cutting bulrush in existing pupfish ponds to keep the water open for the fish.
In the end with an incredible volunteer crew, we planted 153 additional plants along the Springbrook, including 91 three-squared bullrush (Schoenoplectus americanus), 46 spikerush (Eleocharis spp.), and 16 Cooper’s rush (Juncus cooperi).
Seeds from Coyote gourd (Cucurbita palmata), Emory baccharis (Baccharis salicina), and alkali sacaton (Sporobolus airoides) were spread along the channel’s north and south banks.
We successfully straightened the plastic cattail barrier, giving the native wetland plants the best opportunity for survival.
Cattail Status
How to Identify Cattail
Cattails (Typha latifolia) are herbaceous, rhizomatous perennial plants with long, thin green stems and brown, puffy, sausage-shaped flower heads. It is native to all of North America, and cattail thrives in wetland settings, including lake shores, streams, marshes, and swamps, as well as very wet soils.
When mature, it stands between 5 and 8 feet (1.5 and 2.4 meters) tall. Cattails are easily recognized by their stiff, flat leaf blades. An erect, spherical stem in the center can reach a height of 6 or 7 feet (1.8 to 2.1 meters).
Flowers
At the stem’s terminal, the flower head forms a cylinder tightly packed with tiny male flowers in the top cluster and tiny female flowers in the bottom cluster. When the male cluster is laden with pollen, it appears bright yellow.
(Top) Cattail flower head in the wintertime.
(Bottom) Cattail flower both male and female parts Photo Source: Terry Howes
Foraging Tips: How to Collect & Harvest Cattail
CAUTION
You should be aware that cattails are bio-accumulators. Meaning that they aid in the cleanup of polluted environments. Picking cattails in areas where there is a lot of human activity, such as heavy urban development, areas where car exhaust, oil, or other heavy metals can collect into the waterways, is not recommended since there may be hazardous chemicals, germs, or even parasites in the water that could impair the plant’s edibility.
Harvesting them is best done when the plant is still developing in water. Depending on the season, location, and maturity of the plant, the first 4 to 10 inches (10 to 25 cm) are tender and edible. Cattail shoots are best foraged in early spring, followed by pollen in May or June, and the roots nearing the end of the year.
When harvested at the appropriate time of year, every part of Cattail is edible.
Cattail Shoots
Be prepared to get your hands dirty! I used a sickle (a C-shaped handheld blade) to cut off the shoots as deep as I could from the stream. Since these cattail were considered invasive and were overrunning all of the other aquatic vegetation, there was no worry about overharvesting.
Cattail Pollen
The pollen, which can be used as a flour substitute, is extremely easy to collect in huge quantities. Although there weren’t any cattail pollen available while I was there, all you have to do to collect them us place a bag over the flower and give it a good shake. That’s it!
Photo Source: Terry Howes
Typically, there is a fair amount of fluffy stuff mixed with the pollen. It can be removed by straining the flour with a standard kitchen strainer.
Before storing pollen in a jar, it must be dehydrated. You can use a large baking pan and sun-dry it. Failure to eliminate moisture may cause your pollen to mold and go rancid.
Cattail Roots
Come autumn, the focus shifts to the rhizomes. These underground stems, fairly high in starch content (30% to 46%), offer a potential source of flour. Ground into a fine powder, the core becomes a versatile ingredient for various dishes and recipes.
Harvesting the roots are much easier said than done. I recommend having a pair of boots (or even better, some waders) so that you can be in the stream as you’re collecting the roots. I found that both a sickle to cut or a shovel to dig around works best in harvesting them.
RECIPE: Sautéed Cattail Shoots
Here I’ll provide you with a simple, delicious recipe that you can add as a side dish to any meal that needs veggies!
Ingredients
- Cattail shoots (the white portions are the most tender)
- Cooking oil of your preference (I used olive oil)
- Herbs of your choosing (I went with some garlic powder)
- Salt and pepper
- Lemon juice or vinegar (to provide an acid)
Procedure
Cut the bottom 1/2″ of the cattails. Remove the leaves until you have a light green leafy layer that resembles a leek. Cut the upper, more fibrous end of the cattail.
Boil a pot of salted water. Cut the cattails crosswise into 1/2″ thick pieces. Boil the cattail pieces for 3-4 minutes, until soft. Drain well.
Heat a skillet large enough to contain the cattails in a single layer over medium-high heat. didn’t realize how much oil I used until it was too late. Enough oil to to coat the bottom of the pan is plenty. Add the drained cattails to the pan. If they are damp, they may spit and sputter. Sauté the cattails till slightly golden, then add the herbs and season with salt, pepper, and a squeeze of lemon.
The possibilities of incorporating cattails into your diet are truly endless. Experiment with cattail shoot stir-fries, crispy flower head fritters, or incorporate pollen into baked goods such as bread, pancakes, or even muffins! You can even have cattail-on-the-cob, a delicious and simple way to enjoy cattail flower heads.
Resources & References
Washington Office is Superintendent Public Instruction- Cattail
Additional Resources:
- Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer. Section entitled “Sitting in a Circle.”
- Pacific Northwest Foraging by Douglas Deur
- The People of Cascadia by Heidi Bohan
- The Foragers Harvest by Samuel Thayer
- Keeping it Living by Douglas Deur and Nancy Turner
Leave a Reply