Bulrushes (Scirpus) and cat-tails (Typha latiforia) do not have the same characteristics; nor do they look alike, because they, obviously, are not the same plant.
Whenever you hear the word bulrush, do you think of cat-tails?
Oddly enough, many people; especially those teaching survival/bushcraft courses, those professing to be of partial aboriginal heritage (Métis/First Nations), or those publishing modern improved dictionaries, encyclopaedias, or other; supposedly reliable reference??? books--you know the kind--they
are published by Amazon, Google, related so called encyclopedias, some United States of The Americas Universities; the kind that also don't know or don't recognize; the difference between an antelope and a so called prong horn(an animal which does not even have horns), beef and/or other meats and cheap highly, processed poisonous potentially deadly fillers, a bison and a buffalo, a dove and a pigeon, a carnivore and an omnivore, or an elk and a wapiti.
These people tend to think of bulrushes only as"the reeds or weeds that grow along the shoreline". Such web- browsers, dictionaries, encyclopaedias, and reference books will often clump the two together.
But, although cohabitation is not unheard of, there are some vast differences between the two that can not be simply attributed to differences in British and United States of THE Americas terminology, or geographical location. It should be remembered that although they are continually try to redefine the ENGLISH language; The United States of the Americas still uses a PIGEON type of it.
The bulrush has a public relations problem. It is found in the same environment as the cattail, can be used many of the same ways, and it tastes better yet one never hears the bulrush praised as much as the cattail. It should be.
The young shoots of spring can be eaten raw, or cooked. Its pollen can be eaten as flour; in bread, mush, or pancakes. The seeds can be parched and consumed, or first ground and then used like flour. The large, horizontal rhizomes roots can be eaten raw or cooked. Early Canadians- actually peoples of All Americas dried them in the sun then pounded them into flour. The estimated food value is 8% sugar — making it sweeter than the cattail – 5.5% starch 1% protein.
I repeat, again,Bulrushes (Scirpus) and cat-tails (Typha latiforia) do not have the same characteristics; nor do they look alike, because they, obviously, are not the same plant.
Bulrushes are much slower than cat-tails in establishing and spreading because they proliferate more through underground (very edible, somewhat similar to a potato) rhizomes more so than seeds. There are some noted differences between the cat-tail and bulrush, as emergent vegetation, but one noted commonality between them is their special adaptation in transporting oxygen from the air into their roots, enabling them to grow in continually flooded, but shallow water areas. Both can tolerate poor water quality. Although bulrushes can handle and withstand long dry periods better than cat-tails; they do, nonetheless , usually, tend to grow in deeper water (making the rhizomes more difficult to harvest) where as as cat-tails usually prefer shallow water.
Also known as tulle, wool grass, and rat grass this herbaceous plant can grow up to 10 feet tall; they are found all through-out North America and Eurasia. The varieties found in Western Canada are Hard-stemmed bulrush Schoenoplectus acutus and Soft StemmedSchoenoplectus tabernaemontani.
Shoots and lower stalks are edible raw; as are the growing tips of rhizome. Young rhizomes can be crushed and boiled to make sweet syrup or sugar.The dried rhizome can be crushed to remove fibres, then ground into flour. Parch the edible rhizomes. They are high in protein and very starchy, grind them into a powder for flour, mix with water, boil it and eat as porridge. Young shoots are considered a delicacy, whether eaten raw or cooked. The bulrush, used in a salad or eaten as a cooked vegetable. As in the case of cat-tails the pollen can be used to make breads and cakes. Seeds are edible raw or parched. A poultice can also be made from the stems to stop bleeding and to treat snakebites. The roots can be processed and used to treat abscesses.
The bulrush,
and other edible rushes in the same family (Scirpus validus, S=cir-pus val-I-dus,
Scirpus acutus, S-cir-pus a-cut(as the
word)-us) are found throughout the
Americas. It’s also found in Hawaii, the Cook Islands and Easter Island, where
it arrived some 30,000 years ago. Other related rushes are found in northern
areas and have similar use. Though called a rush the plant is one of the soft-sided
sedges. If you haven’t heard the rhyme to help you remember the difference
between sedges and other plants, here it is: Sedges have edges. All sedges are
triangular, some markedly so, others barely so.
Scripus means
sharp and refers to the usual edges found on sedges. In 1772 there was a large
lake, some 760 square miles, in what was then Spanish territory but, since it
was stolen from the Spanish; is now the San Joaquin Valley of California; USA. The
lake was discovered by Pedro Fages but no longer exists. Fages named the area
Los Tules because of the large bulrush marshes. “Tule” A word which, obviously,
could not have originated in the United States of the Americas, probably came
from Tulle-origin-A Town In SW France-definition- a soft ,fine net material
used for making veils and dresses. Tullin in Spanish means cattail. An Aztec
word –as later used in the Americas-“Tollin” was used to describe a group of
plants including the cattails, bulrushes, and OTHER similar plants. When
the Spanish first colonised Mexico and Central America in the 1500s, they
borrowed many words from Nahunta, the language spoken by many of the peoples of
central Mexico at the time, including the Aztecs, and still spoken by almost a
million and a half people in Mexico today.
Tulare’s are
significant wetland habitats for some 160 species of birds and many mammals and
amphibians. Marsh wrens and blackbirds build their nests there. Migratory ducks
seek food and shelter among the bulrushes. Wading birds forage on fish,
amphibians, and invertebrates that hide among the bottom of the bulrushes.
Geese feed on the new shoots and roots.
Among the birds found in rushes are the bufflehead, mallard, pintail,
shoveler, blue-winged teal, cinnamon teal, greater scaup, lesser scaup, avocet,
marbled godwit, clapper rail, rails, blackbirds, Canada geese and white-fronted
geese. Indigenous North Americans hunted the ducks in the rushes. They
would sink nets and make decoys made of rushes. When the ducks landed entire
flocks were captured by pulling up the nets.
Indigenous
North Americans also cut the sedges for mats, and for thatching. The
thatching is both, insulating, and water-proof. When woven with grape
vines or other strong vines, they form floats a person can stand on and pole
over water. A similar rush was used by Thor Heyerdahl when he made the Kontiki [Kon-Tiki
was the raft used by Norwegian explorer and writer Thor Heyerdahl in his 1947
expedition across the Pacific Ocean from South America to the Polynesian
islands. It was named after the Inca sun god, Viracocha, for whom
"Kon-Tiki" was said to be an old name]. Bulrush “shoes” helped
hunters to walk over muddy flats without sinking in. Shredded rushes were used to make
baskets, baby diapers, sleeping mats,
menstrual material, ‘Grass’ Skirts For The Ladies And Capes For The Men
Like
most aquatic plants in the area the bulrush is also home to a beetle grub that
fish like. On the bulrush, look for a small hole, and a brown streak in the
upper portion of the stalk. You will find a small grub, actually the larval
form of an Arrowhead Beetle. The size will vary but they do grow big enough for
a small hook and fish love them. As it is a weevil, the grub is also probably
edible by humans but I haven’t got around to trying one. You can find the same
grub in the base of cattails. Look for a green cattail with an outer leave that
is browning at the bottom.
Some
Bulrush Recipes
Bulrush Flour
Clean the roots
thoroughly, and dry them completely, in a dry place, in the sun. When they are
dry, remove the fibres from the root, and pound the remaining pulp into flour.
The texture of the flour depends upon how much elbow grease you use in its
preparation. It is very sweet.
Bulrush Bread
Skin the roots and cut
them into small pieces, the boil in to a gruel. Remove the fibers and let the
water evaporate. When all the water is gone you have a sweet-tasting flour. Mix
some fat into the flour and mix. Roll the dough mixture out onto a flat rock
and bake in a reflector oven. Or make small rolls about 6 inches long and half
an inch thick, twist around a stick and set in from of the fire to bake.
Bulrush Pancakes
Peel the skin from the
roots, cut into small sections, add water, and boil into a gruel. Let cool.
Stir in porcupine skunk, or any other fat, then add diced porcupine, skunk, or
bacon. Heat a couple of flat stones [see cooking without a pan] over the fire.
Form small patties of the mixture and fry on the stones. If berries are in
season, mash a cupful and use a compliment.
Roasted Bulrush Roots
Dig up the
roots and clean thoroughly, removing all the hair roots by scraping, then wrap
in big leaves. Dig a hole in the ground about 18 inches across and 6 inches
deep. Build a fire in it, and when you have a good bed of coals, remove most of
the coals from the hole and place the wrapped roots in. Scrape the coals back
on top of the wrapped roots. Roast for 2 to 3 hours.
Bulrush Broth
Ingredients:
1 1/2 any available meat, cut up
1 1/2 tsps. salt
1/2 cup flour
2 Tbsps. bulrush flour
2 Tbsps. (if available) mustard seed
2 Tbsps. (if available, any fat will
do) bacon fat
6 cups water
1/2 cup bulrush shoots
3 wild onions
1/4 cup wild rice (if
available-remember, wild rice is NOT rice)
3 bulrush roots, thinly sliced
1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce (if
available)
Roll the meat
pieces in a mixture of flour and salt. Sauté them in hot fat, turning several
times to brown completely. Add the water, bulrush shoots, and wild onions, then
cover and simmer 1 1/2 hours, or, until the wild rice is tender.
Bulrush Stew
Peel the skin
off the roots and cut in inch long pieces; then place in a pot with boiling
water and add a few wild onions, or, sprigs of mint. Then add pieces of porcupine, skunk, and/or other small
animals. Boil one hour.
Bulrush Bake
Ingredients:
1 lb. small bulrush sprouts
1 lb. ground beef(or any other available-see
recipe above- meat
1 large onion
Optional ingredients, if
available:1 can tomato soup
(or water)1 cup tomato juice (or
water) Potato chips (thinly sliced
bulrush “potato” Salt and pepper
The small
inner stalks of the bulrush are tender, and taste much like asparagus, when
cooked. These stalks are easy to remove from the plant: simply part the leaves
and pull the shoots from the roots. Wash them in running water, and cut into
small pieces. Soak in salted water (If available).
Mix any meat
and finely diced onion, add salt and pepper to taste. In a greased baking dish
or skillet, put a layer of bulrush sprouts, then a layer of meat. Repeat until
all the ingredients are used. Pour the tomato soup over the mixture.
Bake for
about an hour or until the bulrush sprouts are tender, adding a little tomato
juice from time to time to keep it moist. Top with potato chips and let stand
in oven ten minutes more. Serves six.
Creamed Bulrushes
Ingredients:
12 lbs. tender bulrush shoots
1/2 tsp. salt-if available
1 cup water
3 Tbsp. any fat
3 Tbsp. bulrush flour
3
cups liquid (milk, if available but definitely not necessary, plus drained bulrush
juice)
1 Tbsp. sugar
1/4 teaspoon pepper
Rinse the
fresh bulrush shoots and steam with salt and water, in a covered pan, until
limp. Drain off all juice into a cup and save.
Dice the bulrush
shoots- fine to medium. In any suitable pot, melt fat and stir in flour, to
form a roux. Cook 2<3 minutes. Gradually stir in (stir this Veloute or Béchamel
sauce smooth between every addition of liquid) bulrush juice, and/or water, and
or enough milk, to bring total liquid to 3 cups. Season with salt and pepper to
taste.
Hunters’ Stew with Bulrushes
Ingredients:
2 cups finely diced wild onion (do not mince)
2 medium sized bulrush “potatoes” (rhizomes)
10 slices bacon (if available), diced
3 lbs. boneless meat, cut into cubes
1 Tbsp. finely diced chives
2 cups water
1/2 cup dry red wine (it would be nice
if it were available)
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 water
1 cup wild rice (again, if available).
8 bulrush shoots
1 1/2 cups stock or water
·
Skin
the onion, cut-small dice, and put aside.
·
In a 2-quart saucepan (if available) cover the
bulrush rhizomes with water, add a pinch of salt, and bring to a boil. Reduce
heat and cook for 30 minutes.
·
Drain
water. Scrape and slice rhizomes in 1/4 inch slices and set aside.
·
In
a skillet cook the bacon over medium heat until it is crisp.
·
Remove bacon from pan and set aside.
·
Pour
off all but a thin layer of fat from the skillet and set the skillet aside.
·
Add
the onions and bring the heat up. Cook until onions are transparent.
·
Add
the meat cubes and the rendered bacon fat, then the chives and bulrush roots.
Cook for 15 minutes, over medium heat.
·
Return the bacon to the skillet. Stir in the
water and wine. season with salt and pepper and reduce heat to a low simmer.
Cover and cook for about an hour.
·
Drop
wild rice into your saucepan or available pot. Add a pinch of salt and just
enough water to cover. Bring to boil, lower heat and cook for 30 minutes.
·
Gradually
stir the cooked wild rice, bulrush shoots, and one cup of stock, or water into
the skillet. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for 30 minutes.
·
Taste
for seasoning. If the rice starts to become too dry, of course, you can add the
remaining stock to keep it from sticking to the bottom of the pan
Serves
Six
"Boneset" was a popular remedy, used in almost all cultures, to address general aches and malaise It is said to be effective in treating flu and cold symptoms, reduce sweating, and to promote bone healing.
IT WAS THE BELIEF THAT IT DOES INDEED AID IN BONE HEALING THAT GAVE "BONESET" TEA IT'S NAME. MODERN MEDICAL RESEARCH CONFIRMS THESE BENEFITS, STATING THAT THE COMPOUNDS IN THE TEA STIMULATE THE IMMUNE SYSTEM.
Stems can also be used to weave strong sleeping mats, ropes, baskets, baskets, hats sandals, temporary shelters-even canoes and rafts. The roots are a source of black dye.
Cat-tails
SEE ALSO: Cattails= A bog or Wetland Supermarket: http://cookingforsurvival--yourdownbutnotout.blogspot.com/2010/09/cat-tails-also-known-as-bull-rushes.html
©Al (Alex, Alexander) D. Girvan-originally published (1995) as part of my cookbook-2012
Sourdough Bread- No.2.
