CATTAIL
Cattails grow where there is water.
They grow in the edges of ponds,
lakes and marshes. Cattails need to have "wet feet" for most of the growing season. They can grow really tall - way up to 10 feet!
This plant species has been around since the dinosaurs!
The thick stands of cattails can be home to all kinds of wildlife like the red-winged blackbird, ducks and frogs, to name a few.
It is a really useful plant. It can filter polluted water and some call it "the super market of Nature". Here is what we Gallavants have found out about it.
They grow in the edges of ponds,
lakes and marshes. Cattails need to have "wet feet" for most of the growing season. They can grow really tall - way up to 10 feet!
This plant species has been around since the dinosaurs!
The thick stands of cattails can be home to all kinds of wildlife like the red-winged blackbird, ducks and frogs, to name a few.
It is a really useful plant. It can filter polluted water and some call it "the super market of Nature". Here is what we Gallavants have found out about it.
Let's start with the leaves.
The cattail leaves are long and flat and straight.
The young shoots coming up in the spring are very good to eat. They are delicious raw in a salad or as cooked veggies.
"Cossack Asparagus", is one of their nick names.
Dried cattail leaves can be woven into baskets, mats and even seats for chairs. They're really strong!
Pulp from the leaves may be used to make paper and string.
The cattail leaves are long and flat and straight.
The young shoots coming up in the spring are very good to eat. They are delicious raw in a salad or as cooked veggies.
"Cossack Asparagus", is one of their nick names.
Dried cattail leaves can be woven into baskets, mats and even seats for chairs. They're really strong!
Pulp from the leaves may be used to make paper and string.
Now to the cattail flower!
The beginning of the flower hides in between the leaves to start with.
There are two separate parts to the cattail flower. You can see here which one goes where.
The male part of the flower produces a beautiful golden yellow pollen. It gets all fuzzy with the stuff.
The female flower is bright green and kind of smooth until it's pollinated.
More news about cattail pollen!
We Gallavants LOVE it!
Babba loves the way it feels.
Bok loves the way it tastes.
You might love it, too!
The best time to harvest cattail pollen is right before Summer Solstice. Wear high rubber boots! Remember, cattails grow where it's wet! You can take a plastic or paper bag and just bend the flower into it and shake off the pollen. It does need to be sifted in a fine sieve when you get it home, because you only want the pollen. It can be used to bake bread, muffins and pancakes!
We Gallavants LOVE it!
Babba loves the way it feels.
Bok loves the way it tastes.
You might love it, too!
The best time to harvest cattail pollen is right before Summer Solstice. Wear high rubber boots! Remember, cattails grow where it's wet! You can take a plastic or paper bag and just bend the flower into it and shake off the pollen. It does need to be sifted in a fine sieve when you get it home, because you only want the pollen. It can be used to bake bread, muffins and pancakes!
Just look at the changes the female flower goes through!
First it was bright green and then
it turns all brown. Kubo thinks it looks like a hot dog and Antonim thinks it looks more like a cigar. Maybe it looks more like its name, "a cat's tail"? What do you think?
From that smooth, brown shape it almost explodes into a big, fuzz-ball. Then it looks like cotton candy on a stick. By this time the male flower has dried up, leaving only a little stick at the top.
Birds and little animals use this soft, fuzzy down to line their nests.
First it was bright green and then
it turns all brown. Kubo thinks it looks like a hot dog and Antonim thinks it looks more like a cigar. Maybe it looks more like its name, "a cat's tail"? What do you think?
From that smooth, brown shape it almost explodes into a big, fuzz-ball. Then it looks like cotton candy on a stick. By this time the male flower has dried up, leaving only a little stick at the top.
Birds and little animals use this soft, fuzzy down to line their nests.
Cattail down has many other uses, like padding and filling for furniture and quilts. Life-jackets filled with cattail down would keep you afloat if you fell overboard.
Shando ended up in deep water once and a cattail helped save him. (We have an e-book about that adventure. See link below.)
The ConstructAnts use it to keep Lower Ganterville warm during the winter. Great insulation stuff!
And, naturally, the wind helps to spread tufts of the fuzz filled with seeds, so there will be more cattail plants in the spring.
Shando ended up in deep water once and a cattail helped save him. (We have an e-book about that adventure. See link below.)
The ConstructAnts use it to keep Lower Ganterville warm during the winter. Great insulation stuff!
And, naturally, the wind helps to spread tufts of the fuzz filled with seeds, so there will be more cattail plants in the spring.
Now. let's take a look at what keeps the cattail in one place -
the root! This kind of root is called, 'rhizome'. It looks like a long tube and grows sideways in the mud. New shoots grow right up from these tubes. This is just another way for the cattails to spread. As Bok says, both the tubes and shoots are good to eat. They can be peeled and eaten raw or cooked like potatoes.
So, there it is, our Plant Of the Month - The Cattail - a plant for all seasons! Pretty wild, huh?
Click below for a summer pancake recipe!
the root! This kind of root is called, 'rhizome'. It looks like a long tube and grows sideways in the mud. New shoots grow right up from these tubes. This is just another way for the cattails to spread. As Bok says, both the tubes and shoots are good to eat. They can be peeled and eaten raw or cooked like potatoes.
So, there it is, our Plant Of the Month - The Cattail - a plant for all seasons! Pretty wild, huh?
Click below for a summer pancake recipe!
"Gallavants - Shando in Deep Water", an adventure e-book about the Vit-Gang with fun facts about cattails, is now available on Amazon. With your parent or other adult click here to buy:
http://www.amazon.com/Gallavants-Shando-Deep-Water-Book-ebook/dp/B00OQPOVPA/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1414084627&sr=1-1&keywords=Gallavants+Book
http://www.amazon.com/Gallavants-Shando-Deep-Water-Book-ebook/dp/B00OQPOVPA/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1414084627&sr=1-1&keywords=Gallavants+Book