LFS common cattail
The common cattail (Typha latifolia) is no longer common on Staten Island.
(Clay Wollney)
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Two species of cattail reeds, the common cattail (Typha latifolia) and the narrow-leaved cattail (Typha angustifolia), were once common in the wetlands in and around Staten Island.
Plant surveys done in 1879 and again in 1930 noted both species as common. Many Island residents still remember cattails from their childhood, and they were still to be found here in the 1960s or thereabouts.
But a survey done in 1981 by Richard Buegler and Steven Parisio describes the common cattail as no longer common, and the narrow-leaved cattail is listed as being rare.
Competition with the invasive phragmites reeds, as well as habitat destruction resulting from development on the Island, are largely to blame for the loss of the cattails. In many places, the tall phragmites reeds have displaced the native cattails in their continuing invasion of our remaining wetlands.
The 1981 survey notes that cattails, once common along the shoreline in the highest zone inland from a salt marsh, have been replaced by phragmites. It also stated that the same was true of freshwater ecosystems here.
Habitat destruction is another factor in the cattail reeds' disappearance. Many of the small wetlands where cattails once thrived have been dug under by development over the years.
In discussing cattails with a friend recently, we realized that many of the places where cattails grew in our youth have long since been covered over by housing developments or hospitals.
The thick brown cigar-shaped spike that gives cattails their name is the plant's most notable feature. This spike makes it easy to distinguish cattails from phragmites reeds, which have a wispy inflorescence of seeds. The thick brown part of the spike is actually a collection of many small female flowers. The thinner, lighter tan-colored spike above it is made up of the male flowers.
In the common cattail, the male spike begins less than a half-inch above the female spike. In the narrow-leaved cattail, the male spike is more than an inch above the female spike. The male spike disintegrates soon after its flowers finish shedding their pollen. After the fertilized seeds develop from the female flowers, the spike falls apart and the seeds blow away in the winds of late fall and winter.
Despite the negative effects of development and heavy competition from phragmites, cattails haven't entirely disappeared from the island. Even as late as the 1980s there were cattails growing in then-unfinished foundations across the street from my house in Tottenville, as well as in a small pond hidden in the woods nearby.
Though these locations no longer support swampy conditions, small pockets of cattails still exist in a few of the local parks that have appropriate wetlands. In addition, cattails have been planted as part of the restoration in many of the Bluebelt areas. Not only does reintroducing cattails help rebuild the population, the reeds play a role in controlling water flow, filtering the water and retaining and recycling nutrients in the local ecosystem.
Red-winged blackbirds and muskrats are two of the species most observably associated with cattails. Red-winged blackbirds make their nests among the cattails. Males perch atop the cattail leaves defending their individual territories. The leaves of the common cattail may stretch skyward as much as 7 feet above the thick rhizomes at their bases. This gives the birds a commanding view of the section of swamp they have claimed as their own.
Muskrats use cattail leaves for building dens, and cattail rhizomes are a useful food source. Geese occasionally feed on the cattail, and many other birds -- including the marsh wren, American coot, various rails, common moorhen and bitterns -- use the leaves for nesting material.
The caterpillars of Henry's marsh moth, the shy cosmet, Pyralid moths and the cattail borer moth all feed on cattails. Other insects that use cattails for food include the cattail pillbug, seed bugs and aphids.
Historically, many Native American peoples used cattails as food and medicine. After proper preparation the underground rhizomes can be eaten, as can parts of the stems and flowers at the correct time of year. The roots were used as a poultice for boils, burns and injuries.