My aunt lives down in Georgia right near a marshy pond area. Obviously, my brothers and I would always wander around outside to see what we could get ourselves into. Well, the pond of all places was the first thing we ran for. My brothers, being brothers, always picked a cattail and chased me around with it trying to nail me wherever they could. I screamed and hollered praying I wasn’t going to get hit. Before I knew it, one of my brothers caught the inside of my leg. I have never been in so much pain in my life. It whelped up and drew blood to the surface. My aunt heard the ruckus and rushed outside to see what was going on. After I stopped crying, everything was all right. My brother got into a little trouble. Cattails are the most common of all wetland plants. They get their name from the way they look. A cattail is a stem that can be up to nine feet tall with leaves like straps. On the top is a brown cylindrical structure, the flower, which can be as long as a foot. Male flowers can be found at the top of the flower head while female flower heads are long and found at the bottom.

Cattail thickets provide a safe shelter for birds and animals, and that is often where they go to have their young. Many say that a cattail is "the supermarket of the swamps". If you ever find yourself living next to a cattail swamp you need never go hungry. The immature flower head can be boiled and served like corn on the cob. The yellow pollen of the male flower can be added to wheat flower as a mixture for pancakes, muffins, and bread.

Another interesting use for cattails involves the burning of their flowers. It is common for people to burn the cattail not only for the fascination of the smoke it puts off, but also to keep the mosquitoes at the bay. Likewise, down, which is the feathery fruit from cattails is used in stuffing pillows and mattresses. The next time you buy a pillow or mattress, check to see if it is stuffed with cattail down.

Not only can humans use cattails as a source of food, a cattail is a muskrats’ best friend. The muskrat uses the cattail for food, shelter, lodging, and nesting. If you are ever out walking and you come across a pile of cattail stems, you can make a sure bet that a muskrat just had a fulfilling meal. Birds also thrive on the plant. They use cattails for food and for hiding from predators.

Written fall 2000, as a service learning project for Dr. Gary Coté's Biology 102 class at Radford University. Copyright Pathways for Radford.