Edible Cat-tail vs. Toxic Iris

PEI has so many wild foods on offer in May: fiddleheads and nettle greens, burdock and primrose roots, morel mushrooms and pheasant’s backs, and so much more! Cat-tails (Typha latifolia) are versatile and easy to use, but it’s good to know how to tell them from a toxic plant of the same wet habitats: Blue-flag Iris (Iris versicolor).

Cat-tails and Iris aren’t hard to tell apart in summer and fall, but it can be easy to confuse them where they grow side-by-side in spring (main photo). Fortunately, there are a couple of features to help you positively identify each.

First, Cat-tail leaves are D-shaped in cross-section: flat on one side and rounded on the other (top left photo). Iris leaves are flatter and more symmetrical in cross-section, often with a ridge down the middle (top right photo).  Second, Cat-tail shoots and stems are round in cross-section and various shades of green throughout (bottom left photo). Iris shoots and stems are more almond-shaped, often (though not always!) with some purple hue (bottom right photo). 

If you look closely at the main photo, you’ll see some subtler differences as well: Iris are the lighter green plants, some of which are bent over (that bending is not a reliable indicator). If you look at the tips of those leaves, you’ll notice they’re more sharply pointed than the blunt-tipped Cat-tails. To get an idea of how similar the two plants can appear, look at the group I’ve circled in the main photo: that’s Cat-tail on the left and Iris on the right.

All parts of Cat-tail are edible, but this time of years it’s the cucumber-flavoured shoots I’m after. Looking for more information on how to harvest, prepare, and use Cat-tails? Join me and the Beach Goats on May 23^rd for a foraging workshop where you’ll make Cat-tail pickles to take home! You can find more details about the workshop here: https://www.pei-untamed.com/event-details-registration/making-cattail-pickles-with-the-beach-goats-2

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