Broadleaf Cattail (Typha latifolia)

Family: Typhaceae | Edibility: Choice Edible (5/5)

Celebrated by survival botanists as the ultimate North American wetland sustenance. Every part provides food depending on the season.

Edible Parts & Harvest Seasons

Edible Parts: Shoots, Roots/Tubers, Pollen, Flowers

Harvest Seasons: Early Summer, Fall, Late Summer, Spring, Winter

Flavor & Culinary Uses

Tender peeled shoots taste like sweet cucumber and palm heart; golden pollen is nutty and rich like corn flour. — Peel outer fibrous leaves in spring to harvest crisp inner core (Cossack asparagus); Collect golden pollen in June to blend into pancake and bread doughs; Boil young immature green female spikes like mini sweet corn; Extract pure white survival starch from late autumn and winter rhizomes

Habitat & North American Range

Freshwater marshes, lakeshores, slow streams, and wetland swales. (Zone 2, Zone 3, Zone 4, Zone 5, Zone 6, Zone 7, Zone 8, Zone 9, Zone 10)