Cattail Pollen

 We collected a little cattail pollen today. The top pic shows a cattail in full bloom. The top yellowish part is the male part which produces the pollen. Directly below is the female part which will become the familiar brown seed head later on. The male part above will shrivel up to almost nothing after doing it's job. To collect the pollen we use empty plastic milk jugs. We simply slide the whole head into the jug and give it a few good shakes. A lot of the pollen falls into your jug. It adds up a lot faster than you would think. We collected about 3 cups in two hours, including drive time. This year is sort of strange, there being plants already setting seed and no pollen left, and plants just starting to form the blossom next to them. We jokingly call the pollen corn MSG because it enhances the flavor of corn so much. Ann adds it to corn bread, pancakes,etc. Probably other stuff too but she is secretive about her recipes! Below is our days haul. The pic doesn't really do justice to the color.

It was a beastly hot day so wading around in the cattail bog was a pleasant way to escape the heat. We have permission to collect in a huge stand of cattails close to home but they don't seem to be blooming yet. This is definitely one of those wild foraged foods that is most useful for it's novelty effect rather than a big addition to your diet.