Common Name:
NARROW-LEAVED CAT-TAIL
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Coefficient of Conservatism:
*
Coefficient of Wetness:
-5
Wetness Index:
OBL
Physiognomy:
Ad P-Forb
B. S. Walters
Cat-tails occur in all kinds of wet or intermittently wet habitats, often in 3–6 dm or more of water. This species is apparently introduced; the first Michigan record was 1877 from near a cemetery in Wayne Co.
There is often a tendency for the deep green leaves to retain much of their color for a while after being dried. Although generally with the spikes and leaves narrower than in T. latifolia, this species cannot safely be distinguished on size alone.
Typha ×glauca Godr. is the common hybrid of this species and T. latifolia. The hybrid is vigorous and invasive and it can be the dominant plant in some marshes, such as along Lake Erie. Plants often grow to a greater height than either parent, and the spikes may be unusually long (up to 40 cm in the pistillate portion of one collection); the foliage is blue-green. See Gertz et al. (1994) for more information. It is now widespread, though recorded only from Schoolcraft Co. in the Upper Peninsula, and was apparently first collected in 1935 in Washtenaw Co. Cattails are awkward and time consuming to collect, and this hybrid between our two species doubtless is more common than collections indicate.