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Typha x glauca - Blue Cat-tail, Hybrid Cat-tail

Infestation Photo

photo by  WNY PRISM

June 5, 2015

Close up Photo

photo by  WNY PRISM

June 5, 2015

    Blue Cat-tail (Typha x glauca) is  a cross between the European introduced narrow-leaved cat-tail (Typhus angustifolia) and the native common cat-tail (Typha latifolia). This hybrid cat-tail grows five to ten feet tall, with long, stiff leaves .3 inches to .8 inches in width. Flowers form a dense cylinder at the top of the plant and the male flowers are yellow in the upper section with a lower separated, brown female, sausage-shaped flower. In addition to the seeds in the flower heads, the cat-tail is rhizomatous, forming clones that can spread 25 feet per year.

    This species prefers wetland habitats, such as marshes, sedge meadows and riparian areas. It also inhabits areas periodically flooded, such as roadside ditches, canals, and storm water retention basins. The Blue Cat-tail quickly spreads in open wet mineral soils and can out-compete native plants in aquatic, wetland habitats, creating mono-specific invasive cat-tail stands.