[8] Evidence of preserved starch grains on grinding stones suggests they were already eaten in Europe 30,000 years ago.

[10]: 925  The leaves are glabrous (hairless), linear, alternate and mostly basal on a simple, jointless stem that bears the flowering spikes.

Each male (staminate) flower is reduced to a pair of stamens and hairs, and withers once the pollen is shed.

[11] Typha are often among the first wetland plants to colonize areas of newly exposed wet mud, with their abundant wind-dispersed seeds.

[12] They germinate best with sunlight and fluctuating temperatures, which is typical of many wetland plants that regenerate on mud flats.

Typha are considered to be dominant competitors in wetlands in many areas, and they often exclude other plants with their dense canopy.

[14] Native sedges are displaced and wet meadows shrink, likely as a response to altered hydrology of the wetlands and increased nutrient levels.

[18] It may be more important to prevent invasion by preserving water level fluctuations, including periods of drought, and to maintain infertile conditions.

[14] Typha are frequently eaten by wetland mammals such as muskrats, which also use them to construct feeding platforms and dens, thereby also providing nesting and resting places for waterfowl.

Plants growing in polluted water can accumulate lead and pesticide residues in their rhizomes, and these should not be eaten.

In early summer the sheath can be removed from the developing green flower spike, which can then be boiled and eaten like corn on the cob.

Harvesting cattail removes nutrients from the wetland that would otherwise return via the decomposition of decaying plant matter.

[26] During World War II, the United States Navy used the down of Typha as a substitute for kapok in life vests and aviation jackets.

It is strong with a heavy texture and it is hard to bleach, so it is not suitable for industrial production of graphical paper.

The yield of leaf fiber is 30 to 40 percent and Typha glauca can produce 7 to 10 tons per hectare annually.

Re-wetted, the leaves are twisted and wrapped around the chair rungs to form a densely woven seat that is then stuffed (usually with the left over rush).

[45] Cattail pollen is used as a banker source of food for predatory insects and mites (such as Amblyseius swirskii) in greenhouses.

[46] The cattail, or, as it is commonly referred to in the American Midwest, the sausage tail, has been the subject of multiple artist renditions, gaining popularity in the mid-twentieth century.