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The stalk of narrow-leaved cattails terminates in two spikes of unisexual flowers separated by a distinct gap (at least 1/2", usually several inches). The upper (staminate) spike is narrowly cylindrical, up to 8" long and 1/2" across, light yellow or light brown, and densely covered with staminate flowers (each bearing a single quartet of pollen grains) and numerous hairs. The lower (pistillate) spike is also cylindrical, up to 12" long and 3/4" across, brown or reddish brown in color, and densely covered with pistillate flowers and numerous hairs. The fertile pistillate flowers consist of a 1 mm long bractlet and a 1 mm long stipe that includes the ovary and a single, slender style; both are surrounded by several hairs. (Flora of North America (http://dev.floranorthamerica.org/Typha_angustifolia) and the Jepson Herbarium (https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_display.php?tid=47466) have nice illustrations.) The flowers are wind pollinated. Some pistillate flowers are infertile and lack ovaries. Fertilized flowers produce a naked seed attached by a stalk to a tuft of white fibers; the seeds are dispersed by the wind. Narrow-leaved cattail can grow on wet soil or in water up to a foot deep.

Typha

Typha angustifolia

narrow-leaved cattail [Blooms: Jun-Jul]

In common cattail, staminate (male) flowers are located in a spike on the top of the cattail less than a half inch above the spike of female flowers (typically the spikes abut). The upper (staminate) spike is narrowly cylindrical, up to 12" long and 3/4" across, yellow or light brown, and densely covered with staminate flowers (each bearing a single quartet of pollen grains) and numerous hairs. The lower (pistillate) spike is also cylindrical, up to 18" long and 1.5" across, greenish or blackish brown in color, and densely covered with pistillate flowers and numerous hairs. The staminate spike withers soon after the pollen is released; the pistillate spike persists through the autumn. The fertile pistillate flowers consist of a 4 mm long stipe that includes the ovary and a single, slender 2.5 mm long style with a flattened stigma; both are surrounded by several hairs. (The Jepson Herbarium (https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_display.php?tid=47466) has a nice illustration.) The flowers are wind pollinated. Some pistillate flowers are infertile and lack ovaries. Fertilized flowers produce a naked seed attached by a stalk to a tuft of white fibers; the seeds are dispersed by the wind. Common cattail can grow on wet soil or in water up to 1.5 feet deep. It often reproduces vegetatively from horizontal rhizomes buried in the soil/mud. The narrow-leaved cattail (Typha angustifolia) has narrower leaves (1/2"), smaller flower spikes (both in length and diameter) and the male flower spike is located a few inches above the female flower spike.

Typha

Typha latifolia

common cattail [Blooms: Jun-Aug]