Typha angustifolia L., Typhaceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Common name(s): [more details]

Chinese: shui zhu

English: bulrush, cattail, lesser reed-mace, nail-rod, narrow-leaf cattail, narrowleaf cattail, small reed-mace, southern reedmace

Fijian: deniruve, denisoqe

Japanese: hime-gama

Spanish: anea, enea, espadaña, espadana, junco, paja de estera, totora, tutuvaco, vato

Habit:  herb

Description:  "Slender perennial 0.5-1.5 m tall; pith of stem white; stems about 2/3 as long as the leaves; leaves narrow, plano-concave or plano-convex or strongly convex on the back, 5-6 mm wide, dark green; sheaths appearing cylindrical below but actually open to base, usually conspicuously ariculate above, rarely some sheaths tapering to the blade, the auricles scarious-margined; pistillate and staminate spikes usually separated by a distance twice as great as the diameter of the pistillate spike or greater, rarely less than 0.5 cm or more than 12 cm apart; pistillate spike dark brown to reddish brown or in age becoming greenish brown or mottled, usually 6-10 times as long as broad, 8-20 cm long, 1.8-2.5 cm thick; pistillate flowers arranged on compound pedicels which when stripped of appendages appear smooth; bracts spatulate, truncate, their blades dark brown, opaque, and firm, slender-stalked; fertile flowers pediceled, the stipe densely long-hairy, the style long, slender, bearing a dark brown, linear stigma; sterile flowers long-stipitate with a broad, flat-topped, inflated, terminal, aborted ovary with a rudimentary style, much longer than the functional ovary; stamens on branched filaments, or sometimes sessile, often 2 or 3 to a cluster, the anthers opening by longitudinal slits, the connective clavate, often swollen and truncate above; pollen 1-celled, lemon yellow; bracts hairlike to linear, simple or forked, brown" (Mason, 1969; p. 41).

Habitat/ecology:  "Shallow lakes and streams, river edges, ditches, marshes, reservoirs and similar sites"  (Holm et al., 1997; p. 871).

In California, "coastal and valley marshes at low elevations" (Mason, 1969; p. 41).

Propagation:  Wind-borne seed; locally by rhizomes.

Native range:  Northern Africa, temperate Asia, Europe, Canada, US (GRIN).

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Philippines Philippine Islands	Philippine Islands	introduced invasive	Waterhouse, D. F. (1993) (pp. 69, 79)

Pacific Rim
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Australia Australia (continental)	New South Wales		Holm, Leroy/Doll, Jerry/Holm, Eric/Pancho, Jaun/Herberger, James (1997) (p. 872)
Australia Australia (continental)	Queensland		Holm, Leroy/Doll, Jerry/Holm, Eric/Pancho, Jaun/Herberger, James (1997) (p. 872)
Cambodia Cambodia	Cambodia (Kingdom of)	introduced invasive	Waterhouse, D. F. (1993) (pp. 69, 79)
Canada Canada	Canada (country)	native invasive	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011) Also naturalized.
Chile (continental) Chile	Chile (Republic of)		Holm, Leroy/Doll, Jerry/Holm, Eric/Pancho, Jaun/Herberger, James (1997) (p. 872)
China China	China (People's Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
China China	Hong Kong	introduced cultivated	Wu, Te-lin (2001) (p. 350)
Colombia Colombia	Colombia (Republic of)		Holm, Leroy/Doll, Jerry/Holm, Eric/Pancho, Jaun/Herberger, James (1997) (p. 872)
Costa Rica Costa Rica	Costa Rica (Republic of)		Holm, Leroy/Pancho, Juan V./Herberger, James P./Plucknett, Donald L. (1979) (p. 372)
Ecuador (Mainland) Ecuador	Ecuador (Republic of) (continental)		Holm, Leroy/Doll, Jerry/Holm, Eric/Pancho, Jaun/Herberger, James (1997) (p. 872)
Honduras Honduras	Honduras (Republic of)		Holm, Leroy/Doll, Jerry/Holm, Eric/Pancho, Jaun/Herberger, James (1997) (p. 878)
Indonesia Indonesia	Indonesia (Republic of)	introduced invasive	Waterhouse, D. F. (1993) (pp. 69, 79)
Japan Japan	Japan (country)		Holm, Leroy/Doll, Jerry/Holm, Eric/Pancho, Jaun/Herberger, James (1997) (p. 872)
South Korea South Korea	South Korea (Republic of)		Holm, Leroy/Doll, Jerry/Holm, Eric/Pancho, Jaun/Herberger, James (1997) (p. 872)
Malaysia Malaysia	Malaysia (country of)	introduced invasive	Waterhouse, D. F. (1993) (pp. 69, 79)
Mexico Mexico	Mexico (United Mexican States)		Holm, Leroy/Doll, Jerry/Holm, Eric/Pancho, Jaun/Herberger, James (1997) (p. 872)
Perú Perú	Perú (Republic of)		Holm, Leroy/Doll, Jerry/Holm, Eric/Pancho, Jaun/Herberger, James (1997) (p. 872)
Singapore Singapore	Singapore (Republic of)	introduced invasive	Waterhouse, D. F. (1993) (pp. 69, 79)
Singapore Singapore	Singapore (Republic of)	introduced invasive	Chong, Kwek Yan/Tan, Hugh T. W./Corlett, Richard T. (2009) (p. 88) Naturalised
Thailand Thailand	Thailand (Kingdom of)	introduced invasive	Waterhouse, D. F. (1993) (pp. 69, 79)
Vietnam Vietnam	Vietnam (Socialist Republic of)	introduced invasive	Waterhouse, D. F. (1993) (pp. 69, 79)

Also reported from
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
United States (continental except west coast) United States (other states)	United States (other states)	native invasive	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011) Also naturalized.

Control: 

Control information from the Bugwood Wiki.

Additional information:
Information from the Bugwood Wiki.
Photos and other information from Chileflora.

Additional online information about Typha angustifolia is available from the Hawaiian Ecosystems at Risk project (HEAR).

Information about Typha angustifolia as a weed (worldwide references) may be available from the Global Compendium of Weeds (GCW).

Taxonomic information about Typha angustifolia may be available from the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN).

References:

Chong, Kwek Yan/Tan, Hugh T. W./Corlett, Richard T. 2009. A checklist of the total vascular plant flora of Singapore: native, naturalised and cultivated species. Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research, National University of Singapore. 273 pp.

Holm, Leroy/Doll, Jerry/Holm, Eric/Pancho, Jaun/Herberger, James. 1997. World weeds: natural histories and distribution. John Wiley & Sons. 1129 pp.

Holm, Leroy/Pancho, Juan V./Herberger, James P./Plucknett, Donald L. 1979. A geographical atlas of world weeds. John Wiley & Sons, New York. 391 pp.

Mason, Herbert T. 1969. A flora of the marshes of California. U. of Calif. Press.

Parham, J. W. 1958. The weeds of Fiji. Department of Agriculture, Fiji. Bulletin No. 35. 196 pp.

U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. 2011. National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Online searchable database.

U.S. Dept. Agr., Nat. Res. Cons. Serv. 2011. The PLANTS Database. National Plant Data Center, Baton Rouge, LA 70874-4490 USA.

Waterhouse, D. F. 1993. The major arthropod pests and weeds of agriculture in Southeast Asia. The Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research, Canberra. 141 pp.

Wu, Te-lin. 2001. Check List of Hong Kong Plants. Hong Kong Herbarium and the South China Institute of Botany. Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department Bulletin 1 (revised). 384 pp.

Zhengyi, Wu/Raven, Peter H./Deyuan, Hong. 2011. Flora of China (online resource).