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Wolf Journey CLASS SERIES offered in Western WA

PART TWO Intro - Trail of the Tracker
• Chapter 5
• Chapter 6
• Chapter 7
• Chapter 8

PART THREE Intro - Trail of the Herbalist
• Chapter 9
• Chapter 10
• Chapter 11
• Chapter 12

PART FOUR Intro - Trail of the Scout
• Chapters TBA

PART FIVE Intro - Trail of the Artisan
• Chapters TBA

PART FIVE Intro - Trail of the Hunter
• Chapters TBA

PART FIVE Intro - Trail of the Pioneer
• Chapters TBA

PART EIGHT Intro - Handbook for Earth Skills Students, Environmental Teachers & Outdoor Leaders
• Journaling Cover Page
• Wildlife Recording Form
• Student Transcripts
• Glossary & Rescources
• Taxonometric Classification
• Outings Guide
• Teaching Guide
• Outdoor Leader Program Policies
• More TBA

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Faculty Essay

Also check out our other articles available in the Ethnobotany series, Survival series, Wildlife series, and Earth Skills Education series.

A Cattail Tale

This is one of a series our articles on ethnobotany. Click Here for an introduction to this series on the Most Important Plants To Learn and Click Here for information on our Cattails Workshop the first Saturday in December.

The author gathering cattails at the workshop last winter.

There is another lone plant which is surprisingly versatile, and its name is cattail. The Typha genus, which is in its own family and order, has its closest relative as the sedge order which includes grasses, which I discussed in Part 1 of this essay. Specific species include the narrow-leafed cattail [Typha angustifolia] the wide-leafed cattail [Typha latofolia] the common cattail [Typha domingensis] the hybrid or white cattail [hybrid, crossbred between Typha angustifolia and Typha latofolia T x glauca] which I grabbed from http://searchwarp.com/swa548574-Cattail-The-Many-Uses-Of-This-Herbaceous-Plant-Will-Surprise-You.htm with "the two most popular species are the Typha angustifolia (narrow-leafed cattail) and the Typha latifolia, (broad-leaved cattail) which are found across North America. The T. angustifolia does not go as far north as the T. latifolia and the T. domingensis grows more in the southern parts of America, as well as into South America.

Guess what? The first food I would look for in a survival situation would be a bunch of cattails. Besides being delicious, they are the quickest way to truly will "fill you up" with sustained energy, because their rhizomes (root structures) and shoots are full of easily-digestible starch. In fact, I've actually heard that besides its water content, cattail is 80% carbohydrate, about 7% protein and 13% vitamins and minerals. Of course, any parts of the plant that you took from below the water line are no help if you can't start a fire, because eating those parts raw would put you at risk of water-born diseases like giardia.

However, once you have a fire going, cattails are great because they are easy to pull out of the mud, easy to clean, and easy to cook. Just throw them onto the coals to heat through thoroughly, and enjoy! Personally, I enjoy the rhizomes best, using my teeth to scrape the clearly visible starch-balls off of the stringy stem. But if you have access to some cooking oil or butter, try frying the shoots in a pan for a wonderful, nutty taste.

When the flower spikes first emerge above the new leaves in late spring, the unripe, green female "cob" part is an incredible treat. I like them raw, but to be safe, you can cook until tender, plus season with salt and butter for a mouth-watering experience. Toward early summer, if you gather the pollen from the top of the now-mature "cattail" seed head, it is a wonderful addition to pancakes or other breads, or a great topping for stir-fry.

Unfortunately, if you eat cattails for very long, they must be harvested from a completely unpolluted location. The reason is that it bio-accumulates toxins, which is why you will see it planted in bio-swales, or ponds which are designed to accumulate run-off from developments. In my view, this actually raises this plant's status, because it is so important for the cleansing of wetlands and the water that will flow into our rivers.

I will also mention some medicinal qualities of the cattail. Like any plant, there are precautions to its use. For instance, pregnant women are sometimes advised against using cattails medicinally. According to http://earthnotes.tripod.com/cattail.htm, cattails are considered to have herbal properties including "tonic, diuretic, circulatory, nutritive, stimulant, refrigerant (root), diuretic (leaf), astringent (pollen), and hemostatic (down)."

Chinese and western herbalists note its affects on the liver, heart and spleen. Its pollen is sometimes used as a coagulant and sometimes as an anticoagulant, internally and externally, depending on how it is prepared, such as by roasting it. Some have even used its rhizome to treat dysentery. Some North American tribes seem to have pound the rhizomes down to apply to burns and sores. But my favorite medicinal use of the cattail is that "gel" which you can find between the base of the leaves. It has an an anesthetic effect when applied locally, for instance on the gums below a sore tooth. Some say that the gel is also antiseptic, but I'm not so sure about that.

Before mentioning my favorite utilitarian qualities of the cattail, I'll quote http://www.backwoodshome.com/articles/duffyk43.html which aptly states that "the utility of this cattail is limited only by your imagination. The dried stalks can be used for hand drills and arrow shafts. The seed heads and dried leaves can be used as tinder. The seed head fluff can be used for pillow and bedding stuffing or as a down-like insulation in clothing. The leaves can be used for construction of shelters,... baskets, hats, mats, and beds." In fact, my favorite uses of cattails include weaving them into window shades, and at Wolf Camp, we like to dip the mature seed-heads into oil, and then lighting them in the fire for use as torches.

Workshop participants gathering cattail down last winter. Click Here for information on our Cattails Workshop the first Saturday in December.

Some of the other plants that I consider to be part of my Top 10 list for northern latitudes include grasses, pines, cattails, oaks, nettles, the rose family which includes many wild fruits and berries, a local wild edible root, plus a choice of seaweeds, bamboo, cacti, or palm depending on where a person lives, and the most prominent cedar, juniper or cypress tree in the area. Check out my articles on these plants by clicking on:

If Sedges have Edges, and Rushes are Round, Grasses are Hollow from Nose to the Gound
Ouch! Stinging Nettles Taste Good!
Spruce, Firs, Larch & Hemlock are all Pines?
Why Has the Oak Fallen?
Rose and Other Tasty Berries
Secrets of Seaweed
Herbal First Aid
Gifts of the Cedar
Bamboo, Palm & Cactus

Employment: We only need instructors with experience running camps and teaching in the field of Earth Skills Education, including skills of the Naturalist, Tracker, Herbalist, Survival Scout, Primitive Artisan and Sustainable Pioneer. Apply to become an instructor through our Earth Skills Teaching Apprenticeship.

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