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I’ve grumbled and grumbled about this invasive stand of cattails that has invaded a muddy spot in my garden. I didn’t mind it when it was only a few but they quickly grew. Since they spread by rhizomes it was hard to pull up so they continued to grow. I thought it was time they went but before I started ripping them up I did a little research on this plant. After spending a whole day this weekend enjoying myself with this plant I came to the conclusion my thinking was all wrong. Every part of the plant at some time of the year has a use. The native American Indians used to harvest cattails and after spending a day with them I found out why. |
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It’s just a few days before the Summer solstice on June 21st and it appears that this is the optimum time at least for some of the things you can do with cattails. Pictures left is a perfect one for harvesting. The brown male and female stalk is not yet visible but tucked neatly between the leaves. |
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Once you peel back the leaves you can see the male and female parts. The male part is on top and it will later produce pollen that then sprinkle down on to the female part. The male part can be snipped off at this stage and soft part can either be scraped off to cover a salad or simmered in a pan for about 7 minutes. It has a wonderful corn nutty flavor. I found myself wishing I had more cattails! It is rather dry though so if you use on a salad have lots of oil. I decided to boil it and eat it like corn on the cob. It was good but as soon as I smothered it in butter it was to die for! |
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As you travel on down the plant and peel the leaves back much like you would the husks on corn (in fact easier than corn) you will come to a solid bendable center. This is my favorite discovery! This can either be boiled and put in soups or eaten straight just like it is. It’s soft and tender and full of a subtle flavor that I couldn’t get enough of. Unfortunately you have to demolish a lot of the plant to get it.As you get right near the roots the plant gets very starchy. I am told you can also do stuff with this as well. I haven’t tried that yet. |
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 As I said above I was spending a lot of time doing this and I read that the spent male part makes a great incense. Wow were they right! Once the pollen has left it’s very dry yet still solid and straight. So I saved a few and lit one to burn in the air outside while I harvested some more cattails. I was aware of a wonderful floral sage smell as the stick produced this beautiful blue gray smoke. It burned steadily until I put it out. |
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 Next to the stand of spent male cattails were ones that were just starting to produce pollin. A light tap and a cloud of fine yellow powder floated through the air. I took a paper bag and dipped the spike inside and shook it to free some of the pollen. I got about a handful of pollen that I sifted so that it could be added to bread. |
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The result was a golden loaf of bread that when compared to normal white loaf had a slight buttery flavor. It was very slight but it was noticeable. We didn’t put much in but in reading it appears you can put in about 1 part pollen and 3 parts flour. You can’t substitute because it doesn’t rise but it’s fine as an addition. Next we will make golden biscuits! |
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Now I just have to harvest the fluffy seeds. I read they make the softest pillow around. However there was one person who had hives from sleeping on it so a word of warning is to have thick material. I plan to stuff the dog bed with it. If he suddenly starts itching I’ll know why!Birds use it as nesting material and since I discovered I like this plant I don’t have to worry about its spread.
Lastly I just need to learn to weave the leaves and I will have effectively used the whole plant! |
Absolutely COOL blog, Eloine! I am so impressed that you didn’t just read about the uses, but tried it all! Thanks for sharing this and the photos as you went along.
Thanks Laura! I’m trying to post only things I have done. That makes it a bit harder then just reading about it! 🙂
You need to be a teacher Eloine. Your passion for the outdoors and your ability to communicate make you special.
Aww… Thanks Tom!
Lots of good information and nice photos!
Great story and useful too. Recently I have been reading a book on eatable wild plants and came across this plant too. They mentioned some of the things you tried. But surely they lacked such a beautiful illustrations.
I just found this, from your more recent post, this is a wonderful article, keep up the great work!
I have been using cattails as incense for years its a great smell and as long as it’s dry it won’t go out by itself
Hi Zack! Thanks for the post. I was amazed at how wonderful the smell was and it was a complete surprise to me when I found it out. Unfortunately the stand I had of cattails dried up given we had no rain. I hope to get it going again by draining some RO water run-off in this area.