January 15, 2010
Common Cattail, Typha latifolia
These "exploding" cattails are releasing their seeds, tiny specks numbering in the thousands amid a tangle of soft fibers. If you find an intact cattail in mid-winter, and rub your fingers over it, it will dehis (open up) into an enormous blob of down that will be carried away by the slightest breeze. Cattails are native wetland plants that provide food for muskrats and other small mammals, and habitat for blackbirds and waterfowl.