Habitat
Type: freshwater margins, in water no deeper than 15 cm
Distribution: throughout northern hemisphere
Prefers: wet
Other: patch forming

General
Growth type: herb
Cycle: perennial
Height: 2 meters or more

Leaf
Shape: long blades, rounded profile
Texture: smooth
Arrangement: fanning out from base
Edge: smooth
Other: blueish bloom

Root
Type: rhizome

Flower
Diameter: tiny
Arrangement: female: sausage-shaped cluster near top of spike; male: tail-shaped spike above female cluster
Colour:

May be mistaken for the poisonous Yellow Flag when not in flower. Both may grow in the same habitat. Flag leaves have a distinct mid-rib, and are more brightly green, whereas Bulrush leaves have a more rounded surface, are more blue-green, and have a bloom.

April to July
April to June
all year - best October to March
July and August
all year

Flavour
Rating and Description:
cucumber like
immature: sweet corn like
roasted: nutty

How to Consume
(young) (base) (immature spike, pollen): raw
raw, flour
raw, roasted, flour, oil

Special preparation
remove rind

Nutrition
80% carbohydrate, mostly starch, some protein
pollen: protein

Used as ...
food
condiment

Action:
diuretic
diuretic, galactogogue, tonic
pollen: astringent, diuretic, emmenagogue, haemostatic, refrigerant, sedative, suppurative, vulnerary
dried: anticoagulant; roasted with charcoal: haemostatic

May treat:
external: wounds, boils, burns, inflammation
abdominal pain, amenorrhoea, cystitis, vaginitis
dried: internal (not in pregnancy): kidney stones, haemorrhage, painful menstruation, abnormal uterine bleeding, post-partum pains, abscesses, lymphatic cancer, diarrhoea; external: injuries

thatch, paper, mats, compost, fuel, light (pith, oil-soaked), dried: insulation, buoyancy
female: tinder, cushion stuffing, insulation, nappy lining
pollen: highly flammable

Collection
pollen: brush off over container with fine brush to pollinate plant at the same time, giving pollen, and later seed too
difficult to sever - use knife

Drying
dry to store

Note
is minuscule and attached to down - hardly worth the effort to collect as food

Plant parts:
leaf
stem or trunk
sap
root, bulb, tuber and other below ground parts
flower
fruit
seed

Use:
culinary use
medicinal use
household use

Other:
caution

Glossary of Medicinal Terms and Nutritive Substances

• anticoagulant: retards or prevents blood clotting
• astringent: causes localised contraction of blood vessels and tissue, reducing the flow of blood, mucus, diarrhoea etc.
• diuretic: increases secretion and elimination of urine
• emmenagogue: stimulates or normalises menstrual flow, in early pregnancy may induce an abortion
• galactagogue: stimulates the production of breast milk or increases milk flow
• haemostatic: controls bleeding (see astringent)
• refrigerant: produces a feeling of coolness
• sedative: calms the nervous system and reduces stress
• suppurative: forms or discharges pus
• tonic: improves general health, bringing steady improvement
• vulnerary: promotes healing of wounds (applied externally)