Bulrush

Information on Bulrush

Common Name: Bulrush
Scientific Name: Typha latifolia
Irish Name: Coigeal na mban sí
Family Group: Typhaceae
Distribution: View Map (Courtesy of the BSBI)
Flowering Period


Click for list of all flowering by month
Bulrush is not easily confused with other wild plants on this web site.


Known formerly as Reed Mace and also known as Cattail, this tall, upright reed-like plant is commonly seen in rivers, canals, ditches and marshes.  The long, narrow, grey-green leaves are flat and up to 2cm wide.  The minute flowers are borne in a dense spike which resembles a straight sausage, with the yellow male flowers immediately above the dark brown female flowers.  They appear from July to August.  The fruits are borne on cottony down and disperse in the wind.  The Bulrush is a native plant and belongs to the family Typhaceae.

I first identified this plant in Burren, Co Clare in 1982 and photographed it at Carrig-on-Bannow, Co Wexford in 2005.

If you are satisfied you have correctly identified this plant, please submit your sighting to the National Biodiversity Data Centre

The Irish name for this plant – Coigeal na mban sí – translates as spindle of the banshee, an image easily understood. 

Bulrush
Bulrush