Cattail

This denizen of swampy ground and ditches produces long spear-like leaves and flower stalks with thick brown, sausage-looking heads. Stands of cattails grow so thickly that gathering food from them is no great task. And the foods available from the cattail are of varied and interesting taste and textures. The roots can be used to produce a starchy flour-like substance, but the process is arduous. In autumn and winter there are sprouts and the ends of the rootstocks that make a fine vegetable, raw or cooked. In spring, before the flower stalks erupt, the inner leaves of the plant can be pulled out of the surrounding sheath, and the bottom six to ten inches of tender, white material is edible. Raw, it tastes a bit like cucumber, or cooked it can be used like onions, without their strong flavor. When the flower stalks first emerge, the heads can be cut while still green, boiled, and eaten like corn on the cob. Later, the pollen can be collected for use like flour.