Cattails and Minnesota

This is an interesting Pioneer Press TwinCities.com article on a similar invasive plant problem: Cattail Catastrophe. Thanks for sending this, Barb.

". . . Where native cattails once stood, sprinkled among bullrush, smartweed and other plants, now there's almost certainly a vast lawn of narrow-leaved cattails or their hybrid offspring. These relative newcomers are taller, with narrower, darker-green leaves and slimmer "corn-dog" spikes at the tops. They outcompete the natives, upsetting the ecological balance by creating a monoculture that's inhospitable to other plants, animals and birds. . ."

We have quite a few cattails on our lake, but I'm probably not observant enough to be able to recognize which type we have. Having seen how thick and aggressive some of the cattails have been on the southwest corner of the lake, I'm betting they are the "narrow-leaved cattails or their hybrid offspring." Some of you really have a barrier from geese and other wildlife! Of course, you can't see the lake or get anywhere near it, either.