Graceful cat-tail (Typha laxmannii)

Synonyms: Typha stenophylla

Common Names: Laxman's bulrush

Description:

Habit: Spreads by creeping rhizomes to form dense colonies in shallow water. Can reach a height of 3-5 feet tall, often with a submerged base.

Leaves: Narrow and green in color. They grow linear and sword-like up to 5 feet tall.

Stems: Pithy, simple, erect and up to 5 feet tall.

Flowers: Yellowing male flowers are located at the top of a flower stalk and greenish female flowers are located up to 2 inches underneath.

Fruit and seeds: Female flowers turn brown after pollination as the seed mature. Seeds are small (about 1 mm) and hairy. They are dispersed by wind.

Habitat: Native to Europe and Asia. Found in freshwater marshes, wet meadows, fens, roadsides, ditches, shallow ponds, stream and lake shores.

Reproduction: By seed and vegetatively by underground rhizomes.

Similar species: Broad leaved cattail (Typha latifolia), narrow-leaved (Typha angustifolia) and Hybrid cattail (Typha glauca).

Monitoring and rapid response: Cut all stems, both green and dead in mid to late summer or early fall. If possible, maintain a water level of a minimum of 3 inches above cut stems for entire growing season. Foliar spray with aquatic approved imazypr has been effective.

Credits: The information provided in this factsheet was gathered from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.

Individual species images that appear with a number in a black box are courtesy of the Bugwood.org network (http://www.invasive.org).Individual photo author credits may not be included due to the small display size of the images and subsequent difficulty of reading the provided text. All other images appear courtesy of Google (http://images.google.com).

---