Did you recognize the tiny seeds on parachutes last week?

cattail-nc

They were from plants commonly called cattails. The genus name, Typha, is Greek for cattail.

Cattails  are common residents of wetlands. The leaves are straight, sword-like blades.

cattail-plant

cattail-clump

Some species are quite tall.

cattail-redwing

Cattail plants are a favorite hang out spot for redwing blackbirds. Other birds, such as ducks, nest in dense clumps of cattails.

Have you ever seen a cattail flower with a thinner part at the top? That is the male flower. It falls off when the female part is pollinated.

cattail1

Edit;  Here’s a photograph of cattails seeds dispersing with a little help from a friend.


Have you seen cattails? Did you guess the seeds?