Typha domingensis, or Southern cattail, is a common wetland plant with narrow leaf swords up to eight feet tall and a distinctive brown fuzzy flower spike. Although it grows most often in large stands within swamps and at the shallow edge of ponds, patches thrive as well in collections of water that sometimes gather behind the back dunes. The plant’s stems spread below ground. Related species include T. latifolia and T. angustifolia, both of which have shorter spikes than T. domingensis, and the male and female sections of the flower spike are separated by a short space in T. domingensis.
References
Duncan, W. H., & Duncan, M. B. (1987). The Smithsonian guide to seaside plants of the Gulf and Atlantic coasts from Louisiana to Massachusetts, exclusive of lower peninsular Florida. Washington, D.C: Smithsonian Institution Press.
Richardson, A. (2013). Wildflowers and other plants of Texas beaches and islands. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press.
