Cattails

The cattail is one of the most important and common wild foods. It is easy to harvest, good-tasting, and nutritious. The cattail also signals the abundance of water. Like the buffalo, every part of the cattail has its uses - consider the cattail a supermarket in the wild.

A cattail stand is easy to recognize and can be found in the spring and
summer near ponds and other brackish water. The flower is a dense spike that changes color from green to brown. The seed head, alt has it is white, dense, furry, cigar-shaped, cotton-like mass, tops the stalk, and overwintered seed heads persist even when the young shoots emerge in the spring. Young cattail shoots resemble the shoots of the non-poisonous calamus as well as the poisonous daffodil and iris, which have similar leaves. Look for a stand that is still topped by last year's cottony seed heads, and you will know you have the right plant. Remember that none of the look-alike plants grow more than a few feet tall, but the cattail can become quite tall and large.

Few people would think of the lowly cattail as edible, but they can be eaten raw, added to soups and stews, fried, boiled, or roasted. The cattail is a starchy vegetable that can be used in salads and as a potato substitute; some cattail aficionados call them a cross between zucchini and cucumbers. In the spring the cattail shoot has an odorless, tender, white inner core that
tastes sweet and mild. Native Americans dried cattails, ground them into
flour, and used them in baking bread. Cattails are also good alternative to asperagus. The young rootstocks have a sweet taste and are high in carbohydrates. Peeling the shoots will leave a sticky residue on your hands - add this sticky stuff to soups as a thickening agent. It tastes like okra and contains beta carotene, niacin, riboflavin, thiamin, potassium, phosphorus,
and vitamin C.

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