Cattails

 Cattails

 

Cattails isn’t the sort of plant that one thinks about when thinking about holistic medicine, but you might be surprised at its many uses and not just as a medicine.

There are about 30 different species of cattails and all of them are edible and useful. 

Every part of a cattail plant is edible and nutritious and has thousands of uses from not only food but also things like first aid, shelter and fuel.   

                            

Native Americans used the puff as fluff or filler for pillows, bedding, blankets, and insulation. It was also a great additive for making bricks instead of straw because its smaller sized fibers gave the bricks more strength and helped them hold together better. Straw was reserved for cattle and horses mostly.

According to

Cattail facts and health benefits (healthbenefitstimes.com) cattails are full of manganese, magnesium, fiber, iron, sodium, protein, calcium, phosphorus, potassium, zinc, copper, beta carotene and vitamins A, B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, C, and K.             

 

Cattails help improve digestion, skin health, helps with treating high blood pressure, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, kidney stones, painful menstruation, helps with cancer prevention, and STDs, and helps increase physical energy, and it has antiseptic and coagulation properties. It can be used as a sedative, and treat burns, stops bleeding, and can be used as a diuretic, or for making paper and some textiles and bio char. Also, the seeds can be ground up into flour for making breads or as a thickener for soups and gravies, and because the pollen from the cattail is so flammable that even today it is used for making fireworks, so they make a great tinder. So, as you can see cattails are a great plant to grow because they are so useful in so many ways.

               

They also provide nesting for various types of birds and food for other wildlife.

“Cattails are even nicknamed 'survival supermarkets' as all parts of the plant are fit for human consumption. But there is a hazardous look-alike known as iris which may inhabit the same marshes. We can distinguish a cattail from a dangerous iris by looking for the distinctive cigar heads which are not present in the iris,” says 31 Cattail Plant Facts: Benefits, Habitat, Importance And More | Kidadl

Kidadl.com also says that the dense root system helps with preventing erosion on lake and pond banks and acts as a great filter for keeping toxins out of lakes and ponds and, “the jelly from common cattail is also an analgesic to relieve inflammation and pain.”

They can be invasive if not kept under control, however, so make sure that you really want to grow cattails before taking on that task. I collect the cigar heads just for the seeds to store in case mine ever die for whatever reason. 

Harvesting and Making Medicine from Cattails

To harvest cattails, it should be done in May so that the plant is simulated for regrowth. Find cattails with a lot of outer leaves. Pull one or more of the outer leaves off at the base of the plant. The medicine is in between the outer leaves at the base of the plant. It will be a clear jelly-like substance. It’s the numbing agent and it helps with teething in babies, toothaches, canker sores, wounds and many other things with little to no known side effects.

NOTE: make sure that you are getting the jelly from the leaves that are above the ground or water. The jelly below the ground or water may be contaminated with bacteria in the ground or water.

This jelly doesn’t only numb, but it also acts as an antiseptic medicine cleaning the wound and stops or slows bleeding making it a great addition to first aid kits and with no preparation is needed. Simply apply it directly from the plant to the infected area.

With that being said, if you want to jar this medicine for later use, you can but that will require some prep work.

For that, follow the following steps.

Cattail Numbing Ointment

1. Using gloves and a sharp knife or scissors, cut about 10 cattail stalks at the base of the plant about 1-2 inches above the ground or water.

2. Trim off any parts of the stalks that aren’t needed.

NOTE: the part that is needed is at the very base of the stalks where the dark green fades into a lighter green like green onions.

3. Clean the stalks under running water and split them down the middle with a knife.

4. With a knife, scrap off the jelly substance and put it into a small pot.

NOTE: There will be some tiny fibers in the jelly. Those are fine to leave in it.

5. Add a 1/4 cup of water to the pot and jelly and because of its antibacterial properties, add a teaspoon of sesame seed oil.

NOTE: The sesame seed oil will naturally preserve the ointment and add to its medicinal benefits.

6. Bring the mixture to a boil for 5 minutes then reduce the heat and simmer for 25 minutes.

7. Pour into a strainer catching the liquid in a small bowl.

8. Squeeze as much liquid as possible out of the pulp.

NOTE: you can repeat the last 4 steps with the same pulp to get out a little more of the medicine if you want but only add a tablespoon of water instead this time.

9. Add any of the following essential oils because of their antibacterial properties.

NOTE: This step is optional.

u Tea tree oil

² Great for treating cuts, scrapes and burns. Should NOT be ingested.

u Grapefruit oil

² Great for treating staph infections, E. coli, and salmonella, and wound infections. Can be used topically and can be ingested.

u Oregano oil

² Great for treating muti-drug resistant infections, E. coli, inflammation in the gut and aids in digestion, and bacteria in the mouth. Can be used topically and can be ingested. 

u Cinnamon oil

² Great for infectious diseases like TB, pneumonia, strep, etc., along with staph and E. coli, and kills bacteria in the mouth and helps with digestive issues and is great inflammatory aid. Can be used topically and can be ingested. 

u Citronella oil

² Great for killing bacteria in the digestive track and help with colon, stomach, intestines and kidneys. Can be used topically and can be ingested but only in very small doses. 

u Eucalyptus oil

² Great for treating the common cold, cough, runny nose, and reducing mucus and bacteria in the respiratory tract. It also helps fight food born illnesses and is a great alternative for antibiotics and helps repel bugs. Should NOT be ingested. To use it, use it in a bath soak instead. 

u Thyme oil

² Another alternative for antibiotics. It is also great for treating acne. Should NOT be ingested unless it’s diluted, can be used topically. 

10. Put the ointment in a sanitized airtight container and store it in the fridge or freezer. It will last about 6 months in the fridge or freezer, but you can put it through a canning process to add a little more time to its shelf life.

This is a plant that I will gladly let take over my property because of its many uses. I love this plant! 

My next post will be on the Headlines episode of Ancient Conspiracies and I’m looking forward to it.

 

 

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