Never played with a cattail? They are comprised of very densly compacted seeds around a central rod/stem attached with fuzzy stuff that expands remarkably when disconnected.
Always remember, 50% of the population has an iq < 100 and a significant part of the population doesn’t know reflection besides their mirror alter ego.
Yes, it is edible when young, but once the tail is brown like this it is no longer edible. Its core is composed of many tiny seeds covered in tufts of cotton-like filament that it uses to float off and germinate elsewhere.
You have to pick the part of the plant just below the waterline, you can just twist and rip it off or use a knife for a clean cut.
Then you remove all the green and cut the white part into small slices (like you’d cut an onion). Then fry the slices in a pan with butter, when the pieces become translucent they’re done. Add a little dash of pepper, salt and few drops of lemon juice.
The taste is a bit “almondy”, it’s great with fried halloumi or beef.
The best time to pick the roots is before Midsummer, after that they’re not as tasty.
When I was an ordinary dumb kid, I took a bunch of cattails from a pond nearby and put them in my desk at school. Well - a couple days later, they decided to "bloom" and we had a desk inspection and when I opened my desk up, the room filled with big fluffy cotton spores. I got yelled at for a solid hour, I'd never seen my teacher so angry. And I'm like, what's the big deal?? It's free cotton candy and it's pretty!!
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