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Bulrush

Bulrush

Typha latifolia

Identify the Bulrush from a photo and log your finds with Florapass.

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How common: Very common

Bulrush is a tall waterside plant with the classic dark brown, sausage‑shaped heads at the top of its stems. It is common along the edges of lakes, slow rivers and ditches, and is found across much of Europe and North America.

Did you know?

  • Each brown head is made of thousands of tiny flowers that later turn into cottony fluff.
  • Stands of bulrush provide shelter and nesting material for many wetland birds.

About the species

Identification

Usually 1–1.5 m tall, with a thick, upright, unbranched stem. Leaves are long, flat, stiff and bluish‑green, mostly from the base, about 1–2 cm wide. At the stem tip sits a tight two‑part cylinder: a yellowish pollen section on top and a dark brown “sausage” below, touching with no gap. Later the brown part breaks into cottony fluff that carries many tiny seeds. Compare with Narrowleaf Bulrush (Typha angustifolia), which has slimmer leaves and a clear gap between the upper and lower parts. Flowers in Finland in July–August.

Plant group

Grasses, sedges and rushes

Habitat

yards and roadsides, shore

Flowering

Jul–Aug

About the habitat

Shallow water and muddy edges of lakes and slow rivers, ditches, ponds and brackish bays; sometimes on very wet ground. It thrives in nutrient‑rich water. Common in southern and central Finland; reaches its northern limit around the inner Bothnian Bay.

Sources

Photo: User:Bogdan, CC BY-SA 3.0 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Typha latifolia 02 bgiu.jpg

Text: Pinkka: BIO-503 Suomen kasvisto ja kasvillisuus - Sisävedet: runsasravinteiset järvet, CC BY 4.0 https://laji.fi/taxon/MX.40188

Text: Pinkka: Pieni maatalouslajintuntemus - Puuvartiset, CC BY 4.0 https://laji.fi/taxon/MX.40188

Text: Wikipedia (Finnish), CC BY-SA 4.0 https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leve%C3%A4osmank%C3%A4%C3%A4mi

See also