Typha latifolia
common cattail [Blooms: Jun-Aug]
Common cattail (Typha latifolia) flower spikes and flowers. Left: the inflorescence of common cattail consists of an upper spike containing only male (staminate) flowers and an abutting lower spike containing only female (pistillate) flowers. Top right: male (staminate) flowers of common cattail. Bottom right: female flowers of common cattail.
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 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.
Common cattail (Typha latifolia) leaves. Top: leaves of common cattail growing on the east side of East Lagoon. The leaves are up to seven feet long and one inch wide. Bottom: leaves of a common cattail growing in Columbia Basin. Note that the leaves are about an inch wide. (My left thumb is present for reference; it is 7/8″ wide.)
Common cattail (aka, broad-leaved cattail) is a native perennial that can reach heights of 4-9 feet. The flowering stalk is round in section, light green to green, and quite resistant to bending. The leaves are green or (more commonly) grayish-blue, alternate, and arise from the base of the plant where they are surrounded by a sheath; they are stiff and strap-like, parallel-veined, 1″ wide, and up to seven feet long, with a tendency to droop towards their tips.
Common cattail (Typha latifolia) growing on the western shore of Bobolink Meadow. The male flowers have withered and dropped away but the female spike remains. A scar on the central stalk (and the width of the leaves) indicates that this is common cattail. On the right is a narrow insert showing the abutting spikes of male (staminate) and female (pistillate) flowers in common cattail.
Common cattail (aka, broad-leaved cattail) is a native perennial that can reach heights of 4-9 feet. The flowering stalk is round in section, light green to green, and quite resistant to bending. The leaves are green or (more commonly) grayish-blue, alternate, and arise from the base of the plant where they are surrounded by a sheath; they are stiff and strap-like, parallel-veined, 1″ wide, and up to seven feet long, with a tendency to droop towards their tips. 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 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.
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![Evening primrose — clusters of yellow flowers occur at the apex of the plant. The flowers are 1-2" across, with four 1/2-1" long green sepals strongly reflected over a long (3/4-2"), green, cylindrical floral tube (the ovary is located just above the leaf axil), four heart-shaped yellow petals, eight stamens, and a single style with an X-shaped stigma. The sepals typically remain connected (in pairs) along one edge until the flower opens. The seedpods develop within the ovary (the base of the elongate floral tube); they are hairy, urn-shaped with rounded edges, and have four or eight small lobes on the apex. The seeds are claimed to remain viable in the soil for up to 70 years. The flowers open at dusk and close early in the day. — — — There are (at least) three evening primroses in Jackson Park — common evening primrose (Oenothera biennis), northern evening primrose (Oenothera parviflora), and hairy evening primrose (Oenothera villosa). They are easily confused with each other. (Judging by the conflicts between the accounts on Illinois Wildflowers [https://www.illinoiswildflowers.info/], Minnesota Wildflowers [https://www.minnesotawildflowers.info/], and Missouri Plants [http://www.missouriplants.com/], even the experts are confused.) All three species have yellow flowers with an X-shaped stigma, reflected sepals, petals with a small notch in their apex, stems that may be red or green, and lance-shaped leaves with short, widely-spaced teeth. Northern evening primrose is distinguished by (1) the presence of a knob or ridge at the tip of each sepal which the other two species lack (2) a seed capsule with four robust, flaring lobes with rounded tips at the apex of the seed capsule, and (3) a stigma that is very robust and almost fills the opening of the flower. Northern evening primrose has green to yellowish-green sepals. Hairy evening primrose (often but not always) has (1) striped or reddish-tinged sepals (check the buds where this character is often easier to see), (2) flowers that turn orange as they begin to senesce (although the reliability of this character is uncertain), and (3) always has glandular hairs covering the ovary that have "pimple-like" bright-red bases; these red pimples may also occur on the stems. All three species are somewhat similar to prairie sundrop (O. pilosella); the latter has very hairy stems and leaves, and translucent lines that radiate from the base of the petals in the flowers.](https://jacksonparkwildflowers.info/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Oenothera_biennis-1t-300x300.jpg)
![Northern evening primrose flowers are 3/4-1.5" across, have four yellow, heart-shaped petals, eight yellow stamens, and a cross-shaped stigma on a modest style; the stamens are as long or longer than the petals and the stigma is nearly fills the floral opening. At the base of the flower are four sepals 1/2-1" long, that bend back along the 3/4-1.5" long floral tube as the flower develops with pairs of sepals attached along one edge until the flower opens. Only northern evening primrose with a distinct ridge or knob near the tips of the sepals. The seed capsule develops from the ovary; it is 3/4-1.5" long, cylindrical but tapering slightly towards the tip, with four robust, flaring lobes at the tip. — — — There are (at least) three evening primroses in Jackson Park — common evening primrose (Oenothera biennis), northern evening primrose (Oenothera parviflora), and hairy evening primrose (Oenothera villosa). They are easily confused with each other. (Judging by the conflicts between the accounts on Illinois Wildflowers [https://www.illinoiswildflowers.info/], Minnesota Wildflowers [https://www.minnesotawildflowers.info/], and Missouri Plants [http://www.missouriplants.com/], even the experts are confused.) All three species have yellow flowers with an X-shaped stigma, reflected sepals, petals with a small notch in their apex, stems that may be red or green, and lance-shaped leaves with short, widely-spaced teeth. Northern evening primrose is distinguished by (1) the presence of a knob or ridge at the tip of each sepal which the other two species lack (2) a seed capsule with four robust, flaring lobes with rounded tips at the apex of the seed capsule, and (3) a stigma that is very robust and almost fills the opening of the flower. Northern evening primrose has green to yellowish-green sepals and is the only one of the three evening primroses to (sometimes) have reddish color on some or all of the midvein of the leaves. Hairy evening primrose (often but not always) has (1) striped or reddish-tinged sepals (check the buds where this character is often easier to see), (2) flowers that turn orange as they begin to senesce (although the reliability of this character is uncertain), and (3) always has glandular hairs covering the ovary that have "pimple-like" bright-red bases; these red pimples may also occur on the stems. All three species are somewhat similar to prairie sundrop (O. pilosella); the latter has very hairy stems and leaves, and translucent lines that radiate from the base of the petals in the flowers.](https://jacksonparkwildflowers.info/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Oenothera_parviflora-1t-300x300.jpg)
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