2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38
Cattail is a herbaceous perennial native to Europe that grows in coastal areas and in water bodies. Up to four species of this attractive plant can be found in the European part of Russia. Often, reed mace is confused with the notorious reeds, although reeds are a completely different plant, which is a representative of the sedge family
Getting to know the plant
Cattail represents the Cattail family and, in fact, is a fairly tall marsh grass with branched creeping rhizomes.
The leaves of this plant are rooted, ribbon-like and rather long, and at the ends of its stems there are fancy brown cobs. In the lower parts of the cobs, female flowers are concentrated, and in the upper parts, male ones.
Cattail grows mainly along the banks of various reservoirs and in shallow waters, on very rich, sometimes even saline soils.
It is worth dwelling on the main types of cattail in a little more detail.
Broad-leaved cattail. The width of the leaves of this plant is up to two centimeters, and the female and male ears of this cattail are almost in contact with each other. This variety is quite widespread, forming especially large thickets in central Russia.
The cattail is narrow-leaved. The height of this herbaceous perennial can easily reach two meters. The narrow-leaved cattail is endowed with a rather branched thick horizontal rhizome. The width of the linear leaves is about 1 cm. In the cobs of this plant, flowers are usually collected unisexual, however, both female and male cobs can grow on the same shoot. Female cobs are colored blackish-brown, close to black, and are 2 to 8 cm apart from male cobs. This type of cattail blooms in mid-summer.
Laxman's Cattail. Endowed with gray-greenish leaves up to four millimeters wide. The height of the plant as a whole usually does not exceed a meter, and its inflorescences are small brownish cobs. Laxman's cattail blooms from June to October.
The use of cattail
The rhizomes of this plant contain about 2% protein and about 15% starch. In the Caucasus, such rhizomes are readily eaten in baked form, and they also make flour from them. Young flowering shoots are often boiled there - their taste is somewhat reminiscent of asparagus. And also the rhizomes of cattail can be pickled in vinegar and subsequently used as a salad.
In some areas, a very interesting coffee drink is prepared from the roots of cattail. To do this, thoroughly washed roots are crushed, after which they are dried in the air (in appropriate weather) or in the oven. Then the dried roots are fried until they acquire a dark brown color. Everything is ground on a coffee mill - and the raw materials for the coffee drink are ready. In a glass of hot water, they usually take only one teaspoon of powder, heat the composition to a boil, and then, pouring into glasses, allow it to settle. Milk and sugar are added to this drink to taste.
Cattail is also used as a medicine. In this case, not only rhizomes are used, but also cobs, flowers and leaves.
Harvesting of cattail rhizomes is carried out in the fall, at the end of the growing season. The cobs must be harvested before the first frost. Flowers with leaves are harvested in June, and young sprouts of flower-bearing stems in May.
In addition, cattail can even be used to make paper. Mats, ropes, mats and baskets are woven from its leaves. Cattail fluff has found application in artistic ceramics. And the stalks with female ears are an excellent material for making canes.
How to grow
For better plant development, preference should be given to damp shores of various reservoirs, wetlands and shallow waters. It would be ideal to grow it in sunny areas in fairly fertile soil.
Cattail reproduces by dividing rhizomes and seeds. Sowing with seeds is usually done in April-May. The division of rhizomes is carried out only in the spring.
Special care when growing cattail is not required. However, one should not forget that cattail is a very aggressive plant, and its growth should be periodically controlled. Basically, in order to avoid overgrowth, you can initially plant the cattail in special containers.
Cattails are completely unaffected by all kinds of diseases and pest attacks.
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