Cattails

You do not need to look very far to find cattails around Thunder Bay Resort or the surrounding area. They are indeed plentiful. So what's for dinner??

"One need never starve where cattails grow. In fall and winter, the starchy rhizomes can be peeled and cooked like potatoes or dried and pounded into flour. The dormant sprouts that grow from them are tastiest steamed, a dish known as Russian asparagus. In spring and early summer, the young shoots can be eaten raw or cooked, and the immature flower spikes can be boiled and eaten like miniature ears of corn. Later on, the abundant pollen produced by the male flowers that make up the top half of the flowering spike can be used without grinding as a fine textured flour. The leaves are not edible, but they have been woven into mats, chair seats, baskets and even roofs. The fluffy white fruits have been used to stuff pillows, and campers have found them a good emergency replacement for down in sleeping bags and jackets."

I am guessing these are the Narrowleaf  Cattails