There are three species of cattail that one might find around these parts — a meatier one that’s well behaved and local, a slim one from Eurasia and northern Africa that can form an aggressive monoculture, and a hybrid version that has characteristics of both but is also a bully. They are hard to tell apart without a DNA test, so it’s better to just look at their behavior to figure out which is which: if it’s getting along with its neighbors, it’s probably Typha latifolia, the native broad-leaved cattail.
The pictured batons bracing against the wind at the Audubon sanctuary in Wellfleet are the seed heads of the female flowers, more like corn dogs than anything feline. The male flowers that sat directly atop them and bloomed in the summer have now withered away and fallen off the skewer. Though it’s an edible plant, chomping on these seedy sausages is not recommended.
