Summary

Overview
Bulrush is also known as Great Reedmace, or Cattail. It grows on river sides and has a distinctive brown 'sausage' looking flower head, which in turn looks furry or wooley as the seeds are distributed by the wind. Grows in shallow water; on the sides of waterbodies, ditches, slow flowing streams etc.

Bulrush is known to absorb a lot of toxins and is actually planted in some cases to remove toxins; meaning caution should be taken when harvesting that it is being taken from a clean environment.

Good plant to know as easy to identify and has many uses/resources.

Gallery and Identification

Flowers - Sausauge like brown stem of female flowers and just past this towards the tip of the stem is a tip of male flowers. Jun/August
Stem - The flower stem is cylindrical and straight. Can go a little woody once matured.
Leaves - 1-4cm across tall and narrow. Pale green/grey.
Seeds - Tiny seeds on a cotton like down released from the female flower and spread by the wind.
Height - Up to 2m.
Distribution - Lowland britain, grows in shallow water so edges of water courses or ditches etc.

Resources

• Fire starting; nest matterial
• Quite a few reported medical uses.
• Paper - from the leaves

Skills

• Firemaking - the female flower has a lot of cotton like down which is used to carry the seeds - good for a nest to start a fire.

Food

• Root
• Young shoots
• Base of mature stem
• Immature flower spike