Cattail Royalty-Free Stock Photo

Cattails are upright perennial plants that emerge from creeping rhizomes. The long tapering leaves have smooth margins and are somewhat spongy. The tiny unisexual flowers are borne on a dense cylindrical spike, with the male flowers located above the female flowers. After releasing their pollen, the male flowers wither and fall off, leaving the characteristic brown furry fruiting spikes. When mature, the spike disintegrates to release cottony masses of minute wind-dispersed seeds.