Typha domingensis
Family: Typhaceae
Description: Tall, narrow perennial, 60-240 cm high, forming colonies. Leaves linear. Flowers minute unisexual, the male in a tail-like spike 2-4 cm above the cylindroid light brown female. Seeds for cottony wind-borne structures.
Field Identification: This is an obvious plant that is easily identified by its colonial growth. Tall and grasslike with brown, cylindrical seed heads this plant is always a dominate feature in shallow wet places. Closser inspection reveals this species when one observes the male tail above the female brown inflorescent cylinder.
Plant Trivia:
Occurrence: Common in wet fresh or brackish soils, mostly in ditches, swales, and marshes and along stream and lake banks. Native to the Caribbean, North, Central, and South America, it is also found in subtropical and tropical regions worldwide
Bloom Period: May-Oct
Plant Use: Leaves are sometimes woven to make mats. Swollen roots are eaten by wildlife and sometimes by humans. Thick strands are important for wildlife habitat and in filtering toxins and excess nutrients from wetlands. In Turkish folk medicine, female inflorescences are applied externally to treat wounds and burns. Extracts show wound healing, antioxidant, and alpha-glucosidase inhibitory activities. In southern Iraq, pollen from T. domingensis is used to make a dessert called Khirret. Native Americans used young shoots for food, leaves for thatch, and seed fluff mixed with tallow as chewing gum. Wetland water purification control.
Dichotomous Key for the Genus Typha:
- Male and female spikes separate………….T. domingensis
Male and female spikes adjoining…………..……..T. latifolia
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