What does cattail mean?
The cattail is a familiar and striking wetland plant belonging to the genus Typha, instantly recognizable by its tall, strap-like leaves and the dense, brown, sausage-shaped flower spike atop each stem — the feature that gives the plant its name. Cattails thrive in marshes, pond margins, and ditches throughout much of the world, often forming extensive stands that provide shelter and nesting sites for birds such as red-winged blackbirds and waterfowl. Ecologically important as well as visually distinctive, they help filter water and stabilize shorelines. The plant has long been useful to people: its young shoots, roots, and pollen are edible, its leaves have been woven into mats and chair seats, and its fluffy seed down has served as tinder and stuffing. In American English the plant is called cattail, while British speakers typically know it as bulrush or reedmace — a naming difference worth noting.
nounA tall marsh plant of the genus Typha, bearing a dense brown cylindrical flower spike that resembles a cat's tail; also called bulrush or reedmace in British English.
- The tall wetland plant Typha with distinctive brown cylindrical flower heads.
- (loosely) The flower spike or downy seed head of that plant.
"The edges of the pond were thick with cattails swaying in the summer breeze."
"Red-winged blackbirds nested among the cattails along the marsh edge."
"She gathered fluffy cattail down to use as tinder for the campfire."
Both singular and plural are common; the plural is preferred when describing whole stands or colonies of the plant.
"The marsh was carpeted with cattails stretching to the horizon."
Every part of the cattail is edible at some stage of its life — Native Americans ground its roots into flour and even ate its pollen like cornmeal.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of cattail
Cattail is an English compound formed from 'cat' (from Old English 'catt') and 'tail' (from Old English 'tægel'), named for the resemblance of its brown flower spike to a cat's tail. The compound arose in North American usage by at least the 18th century, though the plant was known earlier under other names such as 'bulrush' and 'reedmace'. Its components trace back to Germanic roots shared with cognates such as Dutch 'kat' and 'staart'.
Related word forms
How cattail is actually used
The plural 'cattails' is very common when describing stands of the plant. Americans call the plant 'cattail'; Britons more often say 'bulrush' or 'reedmace', so the same word can denote different plants across dialects.
Easily confused with cattail
In American English, 'bulrush' usually refers to a different wetland plant (a sedge of the genus Scirpus), while 'cattail' refers specifically to Typha — though in British English 'bulrush' itself names the cattail.