Typha domingensis
Pers.
Bulrush, Cattail, Narrowleaf Cumbungi
(c) Todd Fitzgerald, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Todd Fitzgerald
(c) Fabrício Mil Homens Riella, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by Fabrício Mil Homens Riella
(c) Bryan, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Bryan
What to Eat
Edible parts: Leaves, Shoots, Rhizome, Root, Pollen, Pith, Vegetable, Flowers
Rhizomes are eaten raw or cooked and have a sweet flavour. Rich in starch (around 30–46%), they can be boiled like potatoes or macerated and boiled to yield a sweet syrup. Dried and ground into a protein-rich flour, they work as a soup thickener, a cereal flour supplement, or the base for biscuits, bread and cakes. The rhizomes at the base of erect shoots are mostly horizontal and unbranched, up to 70cm long and 5–40mm in diameter — starchy, firm and scaly. To remove the fibrous content, peel 20–25cm lengths, dry briefly by a fire, then twist to loosen the fibres so the starch can be shaken out. Young spring shoots — only the inner core — are eaten raw or cooked as an asparagus substitute; cut from underground stems when 10–40cm long. The base of the mature stem, where it joins the rhizome, can be eaten raw or cooked with the outer layer removed, or boiled and roasted like potatoes. The young flowering stem is eaten raw, cooked or made into soup and tastes like sweet corn. Seeds are cooked; small and fiddly, they have a pleasant nutty flavour when roasted. An edible oil is obtained from the seed — seeds contain about 18–20% oil, of which 69% is linolenic acid — though the small seed size makes this an impractical crop. Pollen is a protein-rich flour additive for bread and porridge, and turns pancakes, cookies and biscuits a distinctive yellow colour due to its bright yellow-green colour. It is easier to use when eaten with the young flowers. To harvest, hold the flowering stem over a wide shallow container and gently tap and brush off the pollen — this also aids pollination, helping ensure both pollen and seeds can be collected.
Where to Find It
It is a subtemperate plant. They grow in stagnant and slow moving water. It grows in wetlands. It needs wet soils and an open sunny position. It is resistant to frost. It can grow in arid places. In Argentina it grows below 100 m above sea level. Tasmanian Herbarium. In Sichuan and Yunnan.
Africa, Argentina, Asia, Australia*, Bangladesh, Botswana, Brazil, British Indian Ocean Terr., BIOT, Burkina Faso, Central America, Central Asia, Chile, China, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, East Africa, East Timor, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guatemala, Guiana, Guianas, Guinea, Guinée, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Himalayas, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Jamaica, Japan, Kazakhstan, Korea, Kyrgyzstan, Malaysia, Mexico, Middle East, Mongolia, Mozambique, Myanmar, Nepal, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Nigeria, North America, Northeastern India, Pakistan, Paraguay, Philippines, Puerto Rico, Russia, SE Asia, Senegal, South America*, Sri Lanka, Suriname, Taiwan, Tajikistan, Tasmania*, Timor-Leste, Uruguay, USA, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, Vietnam, West Africa, West Indies*, Zambia,
How to Identify
A tall reed-like plant. It grows in water and keeps growing from year to year. They grow up to 4.5 m high. They form dense thickets around swamps. The leaves are long and blade-like and enclosed in a sheath. They are grass-green. They grow in two opposite rows. The flowers are brown. They are produced in long cylindrical spikes. These look like sausages on spikes. These are up to 20 mm wide. The flowers are usually separated into male (above) and female (below) sections. When mature they turn into a mass of fluff.
Nutrition Score: 71/100
| Part | Moisture | kJ | kcal | Protein | Vit A | Vit C | Iron | Zinc |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| pollen | 9 | 1657 | 396 | 11.3 | — | 98 | 21.3 | — |
| Roots | 71.5 | 288 | 69 | 1.7 | — | — | 1.2 | 0.6 |
How to Grow
Plants can be grown by division.
Propagation: Seed — surface sow in a pot standing in 3cm of water. Pot up seedlings as soon as possible, gradually increasing the water depth as plants develop, and plant out in summer. Division in spring is very easy — harvest young shoots at 10–30cm tall with some root attached and plant directly into permanent positions.
Medicinal Uses
The leaves are diuretic. The pollen is astringent, desiccant, diuretic, haemostatic and vulnerary, used in the treatment of nosebleeds, haematemesis, haematuria, uterine bleeding, dysmenorrhoea, postpartum abdominal pain, gastralgia, scrofula and abscesses. It is contraindicated for pregnant women. The seed down is haemostatic. The rootstock is astringent and diuretic.
Other Uses
The plant's extensive root system makes it well suited to stabilizing wet riverbanks and lakesides. It can be grown in reed beds and water purification systems to remove pollutants from water and soil, with top growth removed once or twice during the growing season for use as fuel or recovered materials. Stems and leaves are useful for thatching roofs, making walls and floor coverings, weaving into mats, chairs, hats and other handicrafts, and as a caulking material for barrels and boats. Fibre from the leaves and stems can be used in papermaking; fibre from the roots can be made into string. The plant produces biomass comparable to the most productive agricultural crops and is a potential energy source, including for alcohol manufacture. On a domestic scale, stems make an excellent compost addition or fuel. Fruit hairs are used as stuffing for pillows, mattresses and toys, with good buoyancy properties suitable for life preservers and excellent insulation properties for use in construction. Female flowers make outstanding tinder, ignitable from a flint spark, and the highly inflammable pollen is used in making fireworks.
Wikipedia
Source ↗Typha domingensis, known commonly as southern cattail or cumbungi, is a perennial herbaceous plant of the genus Typha.
Production
The pollen is shaken from the male flower over a container. The yield of starch flour can be 2500 kg from 0.5 ha of bulrushes. The harvested shoots can be stored for 6-7 days.
Notes
There are 10 Typha species.
Names & Synonyms
Aanechondu, Aane jondu, Aapu, Akho, Ane jondu, Baaliyan, Cheena, Chi'na, Chiena, Dabbu-jammu, Ekho, Fapu', Ghabajario, Googol bon, Hati ghah, Hogla, Jammu, Jammugaddi, Jangli-bajri, Jwi'na, Kai, Kaw, Kaylampa, Kundar, Lesser cats tail, Lookh, Malo, Maranda, Maribala, Ngallowayn, Panjabris, Pankanis, Pario, Patera, Pitz, Pun, Poorteetch, Puwarji, Reedmace, Sambu, Taboa, Tabua, Totora, Tule, Wana-yuk, Wa'na, Wonga
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