Wildflower (forb) · Typhaceae
Broadleaf cattail
Typha latifolia
Broadleaf cattail is recorded as native to 49 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 1,699 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Key facts · USDA PLANTS
Broadleaf cattail at a glance
- Native in
- 1,699 counties, across 49 states and territories
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 3b PLANTS minimum temperature −36°F
- Mature height
- 5 ft PLANTS mature height
- Light and water
- Sun to part shade High water use
Estimated cold hardiness: zone 3b. PLANTS gives a minimum temperature of −36°F; zone 3b winters bottom out at −35°F, the coldest half-zone that stays within that limit.
Broadleaf cattail is recorded as native to 49 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 1,699 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Counties where it is native
The 15 counties with the most ZIP codes among the 1,699 where it is listed.
Native counties by state
- Alabama 43 counties
- Alaska 5 counties
- Arizona 10 counties
- Arkansas 36 counties
- California 47 counties
- Colorado 25 counties
- Connecticut statewide record
- Delaware 1 county
- Florida 59 counties
- Georgia 18 counties
- Idaho 14 counties
- Illinois 102 counties
- Indiana 48 counties
- Iowa 11 counties
- Kansas 97 counties
- Kentucky 79 counties
- Louisiana 59 counties
- Maine 14 counties
- Maryland 5 counties
- Massachusetts 14 counties
- Michigan 54 counties
- Minnesota 70 counties
- Mississippi 27 counties
- Missouri 32 counties
- Montana 21 counties
- Nebraska 39 counties
- Nevada 10 counties
- New Hampshire 9 counties
- New Jersey 16 counties
- New Mexico 14 counties
- New York 38 counties
- North Carolina 82 counties
- North Dakota 36 counties
- Ohio 71 counties
- Oklahoma 19 counties
- Oregon 33 counties
- Pennsylvania 61 counties
- Rhode Island 3 counties
- South Carolina 30 counties
- South Dakota 22 counties
- Tennessee 34 counties
- Texas 30 counties
- Utah 19 counties
- Vermont 10 counties
- Virginia 92 counties
- Washington 29 counties
- West Virginia 27 counties
- Wisconsin 65 counties
- Wyoming 19 counties
Growing traits
Values from the PLANTS characteristics record. “Not recorded” means PLANTS has no value; nothing here is estimated except the zone.
Growth
- Growth habit
- Forb/herb
- Duration
- Perennial
- Mature height
- 5 ft
- Growth rate
- Rapid
- Growth form
- Rhizomatous
- Shape
- Erect
- Lifespan
- Moderate
- Active growth period
- Spring and Summer
Light and water
- Shade tolerance
- Intermediate (sun to part shade)
- Moisture use
- High water use
- Drought tolerance
- None
- Tolerance of waterlogged soil
- High
- Precipitation range
- 14 to 180 in per year
Soil
- Soil textures
- Coarse, medium and fine
- pH range
- 5.5 to 8.7
- Lime (CaCO₃) tolerance
- Medium
- Salinity tolerance
- Low
- Fertility requirement
- Medium
- Minimum root depth
- 14 in
Climate
- Minimum temperature
- −36°F
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 3b and warmer
- Minimum frost-free days
- 100
- Fire tolerance
- High
Flowers, leaves and fruit
- Flower color
- Brown
- Showy flowers
- No
- Bloom period
- Late Spring
- Foliage color
- Green
- Showy in fall
- No
- Keeps leaves
- No
- Fruit color
- Brown
Other
- Toxicity
- None
- Nitrogen fixation
- None
- Nursery availability
- Routinely Available
- Family
- Typhaceae
- PLANTS symbol
- TYLA
Source & data date
- Source
- USDA NRCS PLANTS Database: county distribution records, native status and plant characteristics. CC0 (public domain dedication, per the data.gov catalog record).
- Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP): native or introduced status by state. CC BY 3.0.
- USGS US-RIIS (ver. 2.0): species listed as introduced are excluded. CC0.
- Citation
- USDA, NRCS. 2026. The PLANTS Database (https://plants.usda.gov, 11/04/2026). National Plant Data Team, Greensboro, NC USA.
- Govaerts R. (ed.) (2026). WCVP: World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Facilitated by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Data file dated 2026-06-04, http://sftp.kew.org/pub/data-repositories/WCVP/ (retrieved 2026-11-04). Paper: Govaerts R. et al. (2021) The World Checklist of Vascular Plants, a continuously updated resource for exploring global plant diversity. Scientific Data 8, 215.
- Data date
- Retrieved from PLANTS on November 4, 2026; WCVP data file dated June 4, 2026.
- Scope
- Typha latifolia (PLANTS symbol TYLA).
- Method
- A species is listed when it is recorded as native to the state in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in the county by USDA PLANTS. Species PLANTS labels both native and introduced are listed separately. Full method · All sources