Cattail (3)
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Three species of Cattail can be found in the Rocky Mountains. They are easily recognizable in wet places by their height, narrow green leaves and distinctive flower stalk. At blooming time male flowers are in a spike at the tip of the stem with the female flowers in a spike below. After pollination the male flowers fall away, leaving the tip naked, and the female flowers form the familiar brown cigar/sausage-like seed head. This eventually dries and falls apart scattering as many as 200,000 seeds with feather-like plumes, as shown in the photo, to be dispersed by the wind in the Spring. Cattails sometimes hybridize making identification difficult. |
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Common Cattail Family:
Cattail (Typhaceae) Grows to 10 feet tall in dense colonies with leaves shorter or just a little longer than the flowering stem. The leaves are up to 1¼" wide and flat, and are often bluish-green. There is little or no gap between the male and female flower spikes. The dark brown seed head is an inch in diameter. Found at higher elevations than Narrowleaf and Southern Cattails. Flora of North America reference. |
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Narrowleaf Cattail Family:
Cattail (Typhaceae) Grows 6 to 9 feet tall in dense stands with narrow leaves, up to ½" wide, which are convex underneath and grow taller than the flowering stem. The male and female spikes are separated by a gap of bare stem of ½" to 3". The medium brown seed head is an inch in diameter. The leaves are narrower than the Common Cattail and the mature flower spike is lighter and narrower, less than an inch. Flora of North America reference. |
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Southern Cattail Family:
Cattail (Typhaceae) Grows 6 to 12 feet tall in dense stands with light, yellowish-green leaves less than ½" wide, slightly convex and as tall as the flower stalks. The male and female spikes are light brown and separated by a gap of bare stem of ½" to 1½". The seed head is less than an inch in diameter. Found at lower elevations. Flora of North America reference. |