Northwest Foraging: The Classic Guide to Edible Plants of the Pacific Northwest

Example from "Plant Structure" Section

Example from "Edible Plants" Section

CATTAIL Typha latifolia L. Cattail family—Typhaceae

The cattail is one of the primary plants for a forager to know. it is plentiful, widespread, and easy to identify, and many parts make fine eating. Some part or other of the cattail is usable year-round. Cattail leaves and stalks make excellent weaving material. in fact, the twentieth-century ethnobotanist Erna Gunther observed that for the native Indians of western Washington, cattail apparently had greater value as a source for weaving material than as a source of food. the leaves or fruiting stalks were woven into baskets, mats, hats, packsacks, and bedding. Still, the roots were eaten raw by the Lower Chinook people, and the Chehalis baked the root and inner stalks in ashes for eating.

Typha is the ancient Greek name for this plant. Latifolia means “broad-leaved;” this is in comparison with another cattail species, which has narrow leaves.

FORM: Perennial. Plants are 5–8 feet tall, mostly long leaves and flower stalk; thick, rhizomatous rootstock just below ground; many plants grow together.

FLOWER: greenish; both male and female flowers in separate dense clusters, terminal male cluster above female cluster; each conelike cluster is 3–7 inches long; summer.

HABITAT/RANGE: open, swampy areas; sea level to 2,500 feet; ubiquitous, found nearly any- place in North America with year-round water or wet soils.

EDIBILITY: Excellent. Spring and early summer are good times to harvest the succulent inner stalk formed by the young leaf bases. to gather, simply pull up on the three or four innermost leaves; the leaf bases with the edible white centers can be removed easily this way. add them freshly sliced to salads, or nibble them whole. this is one of the finest wild taste treats.

Both the male and female conelike clusters can be boiled for 5–10 minutes, then but- tered, seasoned, and eaten like corn on the cob. they're quite tasty! the clusters are best while the flowers are green to green-brown, which is about May through early June at sea level. after they have changed completely to brown, i find them not to be as good. when the male “cones” mature (June–July at sea level), one can gather pollen to use as flavoring in soups or for a treat in breads.

The starchy rootstock can be made into a flour by washing, roasting, and powdering it. this can then be used in the same way one would use any strong-tasting flour. the root- stock can be gathered year-round if need be, but is best in the spring and summer.