- Type
- Leafy Greens
- Difficulty
- Moderate
- Season
- Spring
- Sowing
- Division
Cattail
Typha orientalis
A crisp white heart — the spring shoot once eaten like bamboo
Cattail is a perennial water plant, common along pond and reservoir margins and the wet edges of paddy banks. In summer the brown sausage-shaped spike rises, male flowers above and the thick female section below. What is eaten is the tender shoot of early spring: peel back three or four sheathing leaves and the crisp white heart appears. The Donguibogam lists it in the Herb section as 香蒲, calling it the shoot of 蒲黃, the pollen. It identifies it with 甘蒲, the plant whose leaves were woven into mats, and says the tender shoot of early spring is red and white, sweet and crisp eaten raw, excellent steeped in vinegar and eaten like bamboo shoot, and also salted or pickled. The season named there follows the lunar calendar. Cattail is known to gather substances from the water into its roots and stems, which is why it is used in constructed wetlands for water treatment, so where a shoot grew matters more than what is in it. Do not cut shoots along treated paddy banks or in ditches carrying household wastewater.
Year-Round Calendar
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Where It Grows
- Wild population Common around reservoirs, rice-paddy banks, and the edges of wetlands.
- Wild population It grows widely in the lakes and wetlands of the eastern plains, where its pollen is gathered and used.
- Wild population Common in ponds and waterways from Honshu southward.
- Wild population It grows in rivers and wetlands in the east and south.
- Wild population It grows in lowland wetlands and is known by its Māori name, raupō.
Its native range runs along the western rim of the Pacific, from East Asia through Southeast Asia to Oceania. Because it is not a field crop but a plant of natural wetlands, the countries here were chosen by native distribution rather than by production rankings. The genus Typha includes several species, and the large cattails of Europe and North America are a different species.
- Optimum
- 20~30℃
- Range
- 5~35℃
- Hardiness
- Hardy
Cattail is an emergent aquatic plant that grows at the shallow edges of water where it stands year-round. In winter the top growth dies back and the plant returns from rhizomes buried in the mud underwater; even when the water freezes, the rhizomes survive. Where the water dries up, it is soon crowded out by other plants.
In Korea Nationwide
Common nationwide along reservoirs, waterside paddy banks, and wetland edges. The shoots that come up in early spring are picked in April–May.
How to grow
- Light
- A waterside in full sun all day. In shade the shoots come up thin
- Soil and depth
- Mud that stands under water. In a pot, block the drainage hole and sink the whole pot in a filled basin
- Spacing
- 40 to 50cm between clumps. The rhizomes run sideways and fill a basin within a few years
- Watering
- Never let it dry. Keep about 5cm of water standing over the soil
- Feeding
- Barely fed. Excess nitrogen only draws the leaves up and turns the water foul
- Harvest
- April and May, when the shoots stand around 30cm. Grip the base under water and pull or cut. Peel back three or four sheaths and use only the white part
What makes the difference. Blanch the peeled white hearts briefly in boiling water and rinse cold. Cut surfaces brown, so hold them in water with a drop of vinegar
Why this one is harder. The rhizomes run in all directions and blanket a pond within a few years. Always grow it confined, in a large pot or tub with the drainage blocked and sunk in water
Common problems
- Aphids You will see Colonies on the tips of new shoots, turning sticky What to do Wash them off with a jet of water. Since this is a water plant, a spray would contaminate the whole basin, so take them off by hand instead
- Leaf blight You will see Leaves dry from the tip and spotting spreads down them What to do Cut dried leaves at the base and take them out of the water. It worsens when standing water goes stale, so change the basin water
- Mosquito larvae You will see Thread-like larvae wriggling at the surface of the standing water What to do Change the water weekly or keep a loach in the basin. Cover it while it is not in use
This page describes how a crop is grown and used. It does not claim health effects for any food, nor is it intended to prevent or treat disease. Component and study notes are references only and do not mean the same result occurs in people. Consult a medical professional about health concerns.
Health Benefits
The old record — hyangpo (香蒲). The Donguibogam lists the plant in the Herb section as 香蒲 and calls it the shoot of 蒲黃, the pollen. It identifies it with 甘蒲, the plant woven into mats, and says the tender shoot of early spring is red and white and, eaten raw, sweet and crisp. Steeped in vinegar and eaten like bamboo shoot it is excellent, the entry adds, and it was also salted or pickled. The season named there follows the lunar calendar. This entry sets down no nature or taste. It is a historical medical record and differs from how it is judged today.
The part eaten and how it is prepared. What is eaten is the white heart of the shoot inside its sheaths, reached by peeling back three or four layers. Higher up the shoot greens and its fibre coarsens, so timing and how far you peel decide the texture. This is an account of form and preparation.
Gathering substances from the water. The capacity of Typha species to draw substances from water into root and stem has been studied in work on constructed wetlands for water treatment. The same plant therefore carries different things depending on the water it grew in. That is the basis for looking at the site before anything else.
Nutrition
- Water (most of the white heart) — what gives the shoot its crispness
- Dietary fibre (increases toward the tip) — why the shoot coarsens as it lengthens
- Starch (stored in the rhizome) — a storage polysaccharide known across the genus Typha
The part eaten is the white heart What is eaten is not the leaf but the white heart of the shoot inside its sheaths. Peel back three or four layers and a white stem the thickness of a finger appears. Full of water and crisp, it has long been compared to bamboo shoot. Higher up it greens and toughens.
Look at the water first Cattail is known to gather substances from the water into its roots and stems, which is why it is planted in constructed wetlands for water treatment. So the first thing to check is not a composition table but which water it grew in. Skip treated paddy banks, ditches carrying household or livestock wastewater, and roadside drains.
Starch in the rhizome Starch in the rhizomes of Typha species has been known for a long time, and records of digging them in famine years survive in several countries. Digging them out of mud, washing them and settling the starch is laborious, though, so they rarely reach the table now.
Pollen is a different part Pohwang is the yellow pollen shaken from the male flowers in summer, a different part of the plant at a different season from the spring shoot. The Donguibogam entered pollen and shoot as separate items. This entry covers only the spring shoot.
Pairings
○ Vinegar — Dress the blanched shoots with vinegar and soy sauce. The acidity lifts the flatness common to water plants and keeps the white heart from discolouring. It is also the preparation the old text describes, steeped in vinegar and eaten like bamboo shoot.
○ Perilla oil and soy sauce — Fry blanched shoots in perilla oil and season with soy sauce. It behaves much like stir-fried bamboo shoot; split the thick ones lengthways so they cook evenly.
○ Water kimchi — The old text records salting and pickling. Today the easy route is thin slices in water kimchi, where the crisp texture carries. Blanch and rinse them first so the brine stays clear.
△ Confusion with the iris family — The real hazard when cutting cattail shoots is the iris family, the yellow flag above all. Irises carry strongly irritant compounds in rhizome and leaf and are not eaten. A cattail leaf is thick, half-moon in cross section, spongy inside and without scent. Iris leaves are flat and sword-shaped, overlapping in a fan at the base, and sweet flag releases a strong scent when the leaf is rubbed. If you are not certain, do not cut.
△ Polluted margins — Do not cut along treated paddy banks, in ditches carrying household or livestock wastewater, or in roadside drains. Cattail is known to gather substances from the water into its roots and stems, so whatever the water held stays with the plant.
△ Protected wetlands and other people's land — Collecting plants is prohibited by law in designated wetland protection areas and national parks. Reservoirs and irrigation channels have managing authorities too, and cannot be entered and harvested at will. To grow it, buy seed or rhizome and plant it in a water basin.
Varieties
- Typha orientalis (species) — The male and female spikes meet, reading as a single continuous head
- Typha angustifolia (species) — A clear gap between the two spikes, and narrower leaves
- Typha latifolia (species) — Broad leaves and a large clump. Widespread across the northern hemisphere
Source: Donguibogam, Herb Section 香蒲 · Korea National Arboretum species information system