Natural History

Common Cattail is a member of the Cattail Family. It grows to 9 feet in height and has dark green, flat leaves to 9 inches in length and 2 inches in width. It typically grows in marshy areas in shallow water ponds or beside streams at elevations between 3500 and 7500 feet.
 

Cattail blooms between June and August and produces thousands of tiny, dense flowers that grow to form a brown cylinder to 6 inches in length. In fall, the flowers dry and the cylinders slough off piles of fluffy white seeds, which are transported by the wind to new locations.