Nature’s Corndog

Trail through a forest.

By Hannah Heiss, Outdoor Education Y02 Crew Member / AmeriCorps Member 

 

A lot of Minneapolis was built on wetlands. What is now the Chain of Lakes was once a massive wetland system that has since been dredged into several larger, deeper lakes. There are, however, a few small wetlands left in the city, most of which contain cattails.

Trail through a forest.
Quaking Bog, Theodore Wirth Regional Park

Cattails are one of my favorite plants. They are aquatic plants that can be found in shallow water and wetlands. There is one species of cattail that is native to Minnesota, the broad-leaf cattail. While these evolved to coexist with other plants, nonnative cattails easily take over huge areas. Obviously, nonnative cattails taking over a habitat is not ideal, and a lot of the cattails in Minnesota are not native, but there is good news—cattails are extremely useful.

At least one part of the plant is edible for humans during every season of the year, from the roots to the pollen. Indigenous people have been eating cattails for thousands of years and there are countless ways of preparing the different parts of cattails, including using the pollen as a protein-rich flour substitute. The roots have more starch than potatoes and the shoots and stalks are similar to asparagus.

Beyond the countless options for eating cattails, there are also many other uses for the plant. The Anishinaabe used cattail stalks to weave baskets, mats, and fencing that naturally repels insects and the fluffy corndogs as insulation within the walls of homes. During World War II, when there was a shortage of the materials typically used to make life jackets float, cattail fluff was used as replacement. The fluff can also be used in fireworks and as a fire-starter.

Before harvesting the first cattails you see, first check whether they are protected, and the conditions of the water and surrounding habitat. Cattails absorb toxins from the environment around them, making them extremely valuable for water filtration and habitat quality. Because of this, cattails are protected in many areas.

 

Cattail basics

A few ways to eat cattails