24 October 2015
Common Cattail
Typha latifolia
Leonard's Mills, Bradley, Maine

Most everyone can identify a Cattail. The flowers are located in spikes at the top of a very tall stem and are unique. There are actually two types of flowers - staminate on the upper part and pistillate on the lower. The flowers are spent in these photos - here the seeds are dispersing. Birds help with the process too. They use this fuzzy seed material for nests.

There are two types of Cattails - Common Cattail pictured here and Narrow-leaved Cattail (T. augustifolia)  with 1/2 inch leaves. In the flowering stage, there is a gap between the two types of flowers in the Narrow-leaved. It is a coastal species and not common inland.

The Penjajawoc Marsh is loaded with cattails. The photo below was taken from the edge of the marsh at West Penjajawoc Grasslands in March of 2013.

​Photos by Donne Sinderson