Amazing Plants: Cattails

Most people have seen cattails, but they are actually an amazing plant because you can do so many things with them.  They are considered one of the Fantastic 4; in other words one you want to know about if you were lost in the woods.

Cattails can provide several things:

1.)  Food,
2.)  Kindling for fire
3.)  First aid for cuts/burns
4.)  Utility for building

I went down to one of the ponds on my dads farm to pull up some cattails.  There are lots of parts on the cattail that are edible.  One part is the lower stalk.  If you pull a cattail up, and peel the leaves back, the stalk at the base of the cattail can be eaten raw or steamed.   If you pull the entire cattail up and get the roots, then the white parts (rhizomes) of the roots can be eaten as well, although these are best cooked.  When I went down to the pond, most of the cattails were mature, but if you catch them when the "tail" is just coming up and is immature it can also be eaten raw or steamed like a an ear of corn complete with butter. And as the "tail" matures it will produce pollen and turn yellow.  That pollen can be used in cooking and to make flour.  It is amazing the amount of food you could get from a stand of cattails.

As you peel back the leaves of a cattail you see a gel in between the leaves and on the stalk.  This gel can be applied as a first aid ointment to small cuts and minor burns.

As the "tail matures it will get fluffy.  The fluff is easy to dry and provides great kindling.  It will burn super fast, so be sure to have other small sticks for the fire to catch on to.

And the leaves and the stalk are quite strong.  They could be used to help build a temporary shelter, either to weave into the frame for walls or a roof.  If you ever need help for the wild, remember to find some cattails.