Cattails: Place Post No. 3

I picked up a plants guide at the library the other day, so my recent lake trip was informed by this info booklet. Hoping to use it more as the shore thaws and the days grow longer. Looking at plants and then the guide feels kind of like going on a biology scavenger hunt.

Typha latifolia, or "the Common Cattail"catches my eye as I walk along the edges of the lake. These velour-like fuzz rods feel like memory foam when you squeeze them, and even if they can be bad for their environments (because they choke out the plants that provide food for ducks and other animals), the multiple benefits they offer are good. Used by blackbirds as nesting sites, the leaves of this plant also protect reptiles such as snakes or salamanders (not so good for the birds!). Native Americans have used the plant for both medicinal and textile purposes. And besides all this, there's just something fun about this weed: I think of this perennial monocot ( plant that lasts at least 3 seasons; has only one seed-leaf) as the aquatic version of the dandelion (Taraxacum officinale), because their fluffy seeds fur the air when they are released. Like dandelions, this plant is edible, and although I've never eaten one myself, I remember a friend who tried to do so deciding that the shoots would perhaps be better than the fuzz itself (long story). Maybe this spring I'll have to experiment with the tender green shoots myself.

With the strong winds and warm sun we've had lately, I'm pretty sure the water will be eating away at the ice soon, even if it is very slowly. March will bring another hard freeze and a big snow dump or two, but it's almost easy to think about spring coming.