Cattails are semi-aquatic plants in the genus Typha. These reedy marsh plants instantly attract the attention of passersby, given that they have cylindrical, hot dog-like spikes sitting atop tall, thick stalks. The Cattail’s “hot dogs” eventually evolve into a cotton form, releasing their seeds. If you see a Cattail-like plant and are trying to identify it, below are some of the most common plants that look like cattails.
1. Pampas Grass
It can be easy to mistake pampas grass for cattails in their cotton stage of releasing seeds. Like Cattails, Pampas Grass grows in thick clusters with dark green leaves. It has feathery flowers that look nothing like traditional flowers, and, like Cattails, these cotton feathers sit on top of tall stalks.
Unlike Cattails, Pampas Grass has a high tolerance for drought. It’s also common to see this grass growing in more coastal areas, given that it can handle salt spray.
2. Blue Flag Iris
Blue Flag Irises have leaves and stalks that look similar to Cattails. They also enjoy growing in wetlands, such as bogs and ponds, making it easy to mistake them for Cattails until they produce their purple-ish blue flowers.
A notable difference between Blue Flag Irises and Cattails is that these Irises only grow two to three feet high. In contrast, Cattails can grow up to six feet tall.
3. Sweet Flag
Sweet Flag is one of the most common plants that look like Cattails. It’s a wetland grass that grows along streams and ponds. These plants also bear rod-shaped spikes at the tips of their stems.
However, you can differentiate Sweet Flag from Cattails because Sweet Flag has scales on their flower spikes instead of a soft, cotton appearance. Sweet Flag grass also doesn’t grow taller than 2.5 feet, a stark contrast to Cattails, which can grow over double that amount.
4. Yellow Flag Iris
Yellow Flags are another type of Iris that resemble Cattails. Due to their long, deep green leaves, it’s easy to mistake these plants for Cattails when they’re young. But once Yellow Flag Irises produce their classic yellow flowers, it’s clear they’re not Cattails.
Like Blue Flag Irises, the Yellow Flag variety congregates around ponds and wetlands. When Yellow Flag Irises are young, you can distinguish them from Cattails because they have flatter stems and shorter leaves.
5. Prince’s Feather
If you’ve heard about Cattails but haven’t ever seen them in person, you might believe you’ve found one when you stumble upon Prince’s Feather. These plants grow as high as Cattails and produce furry spires at their tips.
But unlike Cattails, which have brown tops, the tops of Prince’s Feather have a deep red color. The ends also splay out into several tubular strands. Finally, Prince’s Feather has round leaves, whereas Cattails have long leaves.
6. Chenille
Chenille plants are yet another situation where you could mistake them for Cattails if you’ve never seen a Cattail in person before. These plants have fuzzy spikes that go by the nickname “red-hot cat’s tail.”
However, Cattails have fuzzy spikes that are brown and erect, whereas the Chenille plant has fuzzy tips that droop down. These plants also grow in bush form. In contrast, Cattails have a tall, grass-like appearance.
Never Wrongly Identify Cattails Again
There’s no doubt about it—several plants look like Cattails. Some of them even share the same habitat as Cattails, making them even more challenging for the untrained eye to identify.
However, telling the difference between Cattails and other plants is easy once you know what you’re looking for. The key takeaway is that Cattails are tall plants with velvety hot dog-like cones at the top of their stalks.