Typha angustifoliaNarrow Leaved Cattail

Typha angustifolia, the Narrow Leaved Cattail or Lesser Bulrush, sends very long, narrow, upright blue-green blades out of shallow water and carries the familiar brown cylindrical flower spike above them in summer, with a short gap of bare stem separating the male and female sections.

It is a workhorse of reedbed treatment systems, where its nutrient uptake is the point, and it doubles as a dense screen at the water's edge on lakes and detention basins.

Specifications

• Height1.5 to 3 metres
• Width0.5 to 1 metre per clump, spreading indefinitely by rhizome
• Native toTemperate and subtropical Europe, Asia, Africa and North America
• FoliageVery long, narrow, upright blue-green strap leaves; herbaceous, dying back in a cold winter
• Growth rateFast

Conditions

• SoilGrows in pond mud and saturated soils, in water to about 0.5 metres deep; tolerates brackish conditions
• LightFull sun
• WaterGrown permanently in shallow standing water or saturated soil
• ClimateThrives in temperate to subtropical regions; frost hardy and reshoots from the rhizome

Additional Features

• FlowersThe familiar brown cylindrical spike in summer, with male and female sections separated by a short bare gap
• UsesIdeal for lake and detention basin margins, constructed wetlands and wastewater treatment, bank stabilisation and screening at the water's edge
• SpacingPlant 0.6 to 1 metre apart, in a contained planter or basket to control the spread
• Low MaintenanceCut spent stems back in late winter and thin the clump to keep it within its allocated area
• Pest ResistanceGenerally resilient
• Environmental BenefitsVery high nutrient uptake, and a mainstay species of reedbed treatment systems
• Salt ToleranceTolerates brackish water better than most marginal aquatics
• Wildlife AttractionDense stands shelter waterbirds, amphibians and aquatic insects

Narrow Leaved Cattail is a treatment plant that happens to look right at a lake edge, provided its spread is contained.