''Typha angustifolia'' is a

perennial In horticulture, the term perennial ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the year") is used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. It has thus been defined as a plant that lives more than 2 years. The term is also ...

herbaceous Herbaceous plants are vascular plants that have no persistent woody stems above ground. This broad category of plants includes many perennials, and nearly all annuals and biennials. Definitions of "herb" and "herbaceous" The fourth edition of ...

plant in the genus ''

Typha ''Typha'' is a genus of about 30 species of monocotyledonous flowering plants in the family Typhaceae. These plants have a variety of common names, in British English as bulrushStreeter D, Hart-Davies C, Hardcastle A, Cole F, Harper L. 2009. ' ...

'', native throughout most of

Eurasia Eurasia ( , ) is a continental area on Earth, comprising all of Europe and Asia. According to some geographers, Physical geography, physiographically, Eurasia is a single supercontinent. The concept of Europe and Asia as distinct continents d ...

and locally in northwest

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

; it also occurs widely in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

, where its native status is disputed. It is an "obligate wetland" species that is found in fresh water or

brackish Brackish water, sometimes termed brack water, is water occurring in a natural environment that has more salinity than freshwater, but not as much as seawater. It may result from mixing seawater (salt water) and fresh water together, as in estuari ...

locations. It is known in English as lesser bulrush,Streeter D, Hart-Davies C, Hardcastle A, Cole F, Harper L. 2009. ''Collins Flower Guide''. Harper Collins and in American as narrowleaf cattail.

Description

''Typha angustifolia'' grows high (rarely to 3 m) and has slender

leaves A leaf (: leaves) is a principal appendage of the stem of a vascular plant, usually borne laterally above ground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, stem, ...

broad, obviously slenderer than in the related '' Typha latifolia''; ten or fewer leaves arise from each vegetative shoot. The leaves are deciduous, appearing in spring and dying down in the autumn.Blamey, M. & Grey-Wilson, C. (1989). ''Flora of Britain and Northern Europe''. The flowering stem is tall, distinctly shorter than the leaves and hidden among them, unlike ''Typha latifolia'' where the flowering stem is as tall as or taller than the leaves. The flowers form in a dense cluster at the top of the main stem; they are divided into a female portion below, and a tassel of male flowers above; the female and male parts are separated by a gap of (rarely to 12 cm) of bare stem, which distinguishes the species readily from ''Typha latifolia'' where there is no gap between the female and male flowers. Flowering is in June to July; after this, the male portion falls off, leaving the female portion to form a rusty-brown fruit head 13–25 mm diameter, maturing into the familiar sausage-shaped spike. The gap between the female and male flowers remains visible as a smooth part at the base of the spike that held the male flowers. The seed heads persist through the winter, and then gradually break up in spring to release the tiny seeds embedded in hairs which assist with wind dispersal. The plants have sturdy, rhizomatous roots that can extend and are typically diameter.

Distribution

The species is universally accepted to be native across most of Eurasia, and in the far northwest of Africa, where it is widely distributed in temperate and subtropical regions, growing in marshes, wetlands, and along the edges of ponds and lakes. Its status in North America, accepted as native by some, remains far from clear. In 1987 it was argued that the species was introduced from Europe to North America, with a human-mediated arrival on the east coast between 1800–1820. Later, pollen data gave credence to the idea that the species was present in North America pre-contact, but subsequent examination of this question suggests it remains very uncertain: "''T. angustifolia'' is likely not native with European origins", with the species no more than "possibly native to the tidal wetlands of the eastern seaboard". Within North America, it is also thought to have spread recently from coastal to inland locations. The geographic range of ''Typha angustifolia'' overlaps with the very similar species '' Typha latifolia''. ''T. angustifolia'' can be distinguished from ''T. latifolia'' by its narrower leaves and by a clear separation of two different regions (staminate flowers above and pistilate flowers below) on the flowering heads. ''T. angustifolia'' often occurs in deeper water than ''T. latifolia'', and is more tolerant of wetlands with low

eutrophication Eutrophication is a general term describing a process in which nutrients accumulate in a body of water, resulting in an increased growth of organisms that may deplete the oxygen in the water; ie. the process of too many plants growing on the s ...

conditions. The two species can produce hybrids, named as ''Typha × glauca'' (''Typha angustifolia x T. latifolia''); it is a sterile

F1 hybrid F1 hybrid (also known as filial 1 hybrid) is the first filial generation of offspring of distinctly different parental types. F1 hybrids are used in genetics, and in selective breeding, where the term F1 crossbreed may be used. The term is somet ...

, which reproduces only vegetatively, forming

clonal colonies A clonal colony or genet is a group of genetically identical individuals, such as plants, fungi, or bacteria, that have grown in a given location, all originating vegetatively, not sexually, from a single ancestor. In plants, an individual in ...

, which may be extensive.

Culinary use

Several parts of the plant are edible, including during various seasons the dormant sprouts on roots and bases of leaves, the inner core of the stalk, green bloom spikes, ripe pollen, and starchy roots. It can be prepared in the same way as ''Typha latifolia''. The edible stem is called ''bồn bồn'' in Vietnam.photo
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References

External links

''Typha angustifolia''
Photos, drawings, description from Nature Manitoba {{Taxonbar, from=Q146572 angustifolia Flora of Europe Flora of Northern America Flora of temperate Asia Flora of India (region) Flora of Thailand Flora of Vietnam Root vegetables Stem vegetables Plants described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus