Edible Plant Species

Typha angustifolia Linn. Typhaceae. SMALL BULRUSH.
Europe and North America.
The young shoots are edible and resemble asparagus.

T. elephantina Roxb. ELEPHANT'S GRASS.
Mediterranean region and East Indies.
A kind of bread, called boor or booree, is made in Scinde from the pollen.

T. latifolia Linn. BULRUSH. CAT TAIL. COSSACK ASPARAGUS. REED MACE.
Europe and North America.
In Virginia, the poorer settlers ate the root of the bulbrush and were very fond of it; it has a sweetish taste. Haller says the roots are eaten in salads. Long says the seeds are esculent, roasted; Lindley, that it is sometimes used as food under the name of Cossack asparagus. This plant, says Clarke, nourishes luxuriantly in the shallows of the Don. He found the people devouring it raw; "with a degree of avidity as though it had been a religious observance. It was to be seen in all the streets and in every house, bound into faggots. "They peel off the outer rind and find near the root a tender, white part of the stem, which, for about the length of inches, affords a crisp, cooling, and very pleasant article of food.

T. laxmanni Lepech. SCENTED FLAG.
Europe and northern Asia.
The rhizomes furnish a meal which is made into cakes. They are used also as a vegetable.