The cattail is a plant that grows near water on is swampy areas and most of it is edible, You can eat the roots and the stalk and even the flowers from it. In this article you will learn how to collect cattail pollen and use it as a flour to make cattail pollen pancakes.
You have to collect it in the spring because that is when the male flowers part of the cattail are present. What we are all used to seeing is the female flower that is a tall fuzzy brown stalk, the male part is on top of that and once the pollen is gone that part falls off and leaves only the brown female part. Primitive Ways shares the instructions for collecting the pollen and says it is not unusual to get a tablespoon or more of pollen from a single cattail.
The pollen is mixed with flour and other ingredients to make pancakes with the recipe given. I have never eaten cattail pollen pancakes but it sure makes the pancake a pretty yellow. This would be a neat thing to do with the kids to show them how the Native Americans foraged for their foods. They also used the female part by taking the fuzz off and using it as tinder and insulation.
