Typha latifolia L. When you were a child, do you remember wondering down by a pond or a lake, and finding a tall, skinny, plant with a fuzzy corn dog at the top? Do you remember breaking it open and finding white fluff lining the entire brown corn dog? These plants have many names, cattails, corn dog grass, and even reed mace. Broadleaf cattails, also known as Typha latifolia L. in the scientific community, are plants that can grow up to 10 feet tall. The “cattail” part of the plant can grow up to almost three centimeters in width. The spike at the top of the plant can group up to six inches long. The leaves are flat, green leaves with “parallel veins running the long narrow length of the leaf” (“Typha latifolia L.” 2). Cattails are monoecious, the male flower is the spike on top of the plant while the female flower is the brownish “corn dog”. …show more content…
“comes from the Greek word “tufh” that means bulrush or cattail” (“Typha latifolia” 1). Latifolia “comes from the Latin word “latus”, meaning “broad” and “folius” meaning “leaf”” (“Typha latifolia” 1). Cattails are found worldwide. They are located in every state in the United States of America, but they are non-native in Hawaii. They are a native plant in other countries such as: all provinces of Canada, Mexico, India, and Great Britain. Cattails were introduced to Eurasia, Africa, New Zealand, and Australia. Typha latifolia L. is a perennial that grows in tropical and temperate weather conditions. They can grow on costs, valleys, marshes that elevate lower than 7,000 feet below sea level, lakes, ponds, ditches, and even wetlands. There are many ecological importances for cattails. For wildlife, these plants are used for “providing nesting sites for red-winged blackbirds, ducks, geese, and fish. Nutria, muskrats, and beavers enjoy the shoots and roots while teal ducks, finches, and least bitterns eat the seeds” (“Typha latifolia (Broadleaf cattail)”