Bullrush report

Moira Cronje 13/05/11

Bullrush

          

 Kingdom: Plantae

 (unranked): Angiosperms

 (unranked): Monocots

(unranked): Commelinids 

 Order: Poales

 Family: Typhaceae

 Genus: Typha

Species: latifolia

Description:

Typha leaves are alternate and mostly basal to a simple, joint less stem that eventually bears the flowering spikes. The rhizomes spread horizontally beneath the surface of muddy ground to start new upright growth, and the spread of Typha is an important part of the process of open water bodies being converted to vegetated marshland and eventually dry land.

Origin:

It is found as a native species in North and South America, Great Britain, Eurasia and Africa. In Canada, broadleaf cattail occurs in all provinces and the Northwest Territories, and in the United States, it is native to all states except Hawaii. The species is non-native, and considered an invasive weed, in Australia and Hawaii. It is not native but has been reported in Indonesia, Malaysia, New- Zealand, Papua New Guinea, and the Philippines.

Uses:

Typha has a wide variety of parts that are edible to humans. The rhizomes, underground lateral stems, are a pleasant nutritious and energy-rich food source that when processed into flour contains 266 kcal per 100 g. Typha has also recently been suggested as a source of oil.

Typha can be dipped in wax or fat and then lit as a candle, the stem serving as a wick. It can also be lit without the use of wax or fat, and it will smolder slowly, somewhat like incense, and may repel insects.

Medicinal uses:

The leaves have been mixed with oil and used as a poultice on sores. It is used internally in the treatment of kidney stones, haemorrhage, painful menstruation, abnormal uterine bleeding, postpartum pains, abscesses and cancer of the lymphatic system. The young flower heads are eaten as a treatment for diarrhea.

Typha control and management:

The optimal control technique for a given site will depend on the hydro-logic state of the site, the size of the area to be managed, and if the manager is able to manipulate water levels. Removing dead leaves and submerging the shoots in early spring will strain the plant and eventually kill it. Starch reserves in the rhizomes are at their minimum in late spring when the pistillate spike of the cattail is lime green and the staminate spike is dark green. This is the best time to employ cutting, crushing, shearing, and/or deciding to eliminate cattail colonies because all these methods impede starch storage during the growing season. The methods of control work best if employed during a three-week time window beginning one week before and ending one week after the staminate spike has emerged. Grazing by cows, geese, muskrats, and other animals can be an effective method of cattail management. Spring and early summer treatments generally created favorable seedbeds for cattail that required a fall crushing to control seedlings. Crushing

involved pulling a 55 gallon water filled drum behind a tractor. Deeper water areas showed

highest control (up to 100 percent) while re-growth occurred in shallow areas.

Common names: broadleaf cattail, common cattail, soft-flag