Cattail (Typha sp.) foraging question

[Drewboy64]

As many of you know, cattail has several parts that are edible throughout the year. However, I am concerned that most of the cattails you see in urban/suburban areas are dangerous to eat, but wanted to see if anyone else knew whether this was true. In the past, I have sampled a small amount of cattail growing in suburban areas, but in places that are slightly more remote but still likely susceptible to being in ditches where chemical runoff spill into.

The bit that I've sampled tasted harsh and almost spicy or irritating. I don't remember cattail tasting at all like this when I first tried it as a kid at a camp. I remember it tasting like corn or a mild vegetable.

Before anyone says anything about how it's foolish to forage in suburban areas, let me quote what Samuel Thayer from The Forager's Harvest has to say: "The truth is, we live in a polluted world; we breathe dirty air, drink tainted water, and get most of our food from chemical-laden farm fields - and we survive. Wild plants are part of that world and should not be neglected because of an unexamined double standard."

That said, cattails are known to absorb high amounts of toxins and pollutants, and hence contribute to the purification of water in wetlands and marshes. So I suspect that, because they are natural water filters, it maybe more unsafe to eat cattails in suburban areas than most plants. Can anyone confirm this?

I also wonder if anybody knows whether certain parts of the plant - such as the young flowers or pollen - would be safer to eat than the stalk/rhizomes even if the plant is in a suburban area? Do these parts of the plant not store the toxins that the cattail absorbs? Or are they still affected and thus unsafe to eat?

Thanks!

 

[Toddy]

Pollen's fine (so long as there's no airborne pollution, such as exhaust fumes or chemical sprays)
The roots are known to accrete heavy metals, such as mercury, but tbh, it's very site specific.
Just make sure that the roots actually are cattails; I believe in America that there are several irises that grow in the same sites and unless you're certain, I'd be wary.
Might explain the spicy/irritation. Cattails certainly don't do that.

cheers,
Toddy

 

[xylaria]

Yellow flag has a]root tastes harsh. Calamas root I dont know what it tastes like but both it and yellow flag produce strong smells when cooked. Yellow flag smells like pig poop when roasted. Bulrush is fibrous and smells a little sweet, like roast parsnip or sweet potato does.

Bulrush does suck up heavy metals and other pollutants. I cant see how that would effect taste. I have eaten them from ex-quarry country park, a pond that gets coal mine run off and not eaten them from the wetland in Llanelli (cyanide copper tin) and the sewage treatment bed from a ecohouse (e-coli and god knows).

 

[Drewboy64]

Pollen's fine (so long as there's no airborne pollution, such as exhaust fumes or chemical sprays)
The roots are known to accrete heavy metals, such as mercury, but tbh, it's very site specific.
Just make sure that the roots actually are cattails; I believe in America that there are several irises that grow in the same sites and unless you're certain, I'd be wary.
Might explain the spicy/irritation. Cattails certainly don't do that.

cheers,
Toddy

Good to know the pollen is still good to use. Hmm. I'm 100% certain it's Typha and not iris, as I've seen the heads and can distinguish the leaves pretty well.

Yellow flag has a]root tastes harsh. Calamas root I dont know what it tastes like but both it and yellow flag produce strong smells when cooked. Yellow flag smells like pig poop when roasted. Bulrush is fibrous and smells a little sweet, like roast parsnip or sweet potato does.

Bulrush does suck up heavy metals and other pollutants. I cant see how that would effect taste. I have eaten them from ex-quarry country park, a pond that gets coal mine run off and not eaten them from the wetland in Llanelli (cyanide copper tin) and the sewage treatment bed from a ecohouse (e-coli and god knows).

Strange. I'm 100% certain it's Typha, but I wonder if only certain kinds of pollutants would give it a weird taste? I imagine the only chemicals in this area would be either fertilizer or pesticides, as the bulrush I've found have been in parks with mowed lawns.

Thank you for your help!

 

[xylaria]

Personally I find when I can see just the leaves popping out of the water it is impossible to tell iris from typha. Considering one is a grass and the other is dicot, they are as about related as humans and fish, their leaves are a good example of convergent evolution.

It is easy to tell them looking at other features
Typha is a grass albeit a very big one. Last years dead growth is there. It forms huge mats of long horizonal roots.

Iris is a flowering plant, it never retains lasts growth. The root system is segmented. It will grow on the edges of a typha mat.

Bulrush root is very poor eating in summer imho. I find it is only worth it between october and may. The shoots in spring have a weird taste, I like it but others dont. Plenty of people have pulled on what they thought was a bullrush to find iris, me included. I have come across several that have attempted to ingest the same error. The typha shoot could be discribed as tasting slightly metallic, the root has always tasted a slightly malty bland to me.