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Typha orientalis
Also called Oriental Cattail, Broadleaf Cumbungi, Lesser Reed Mace, Broad Leaved Cumbungi, Cumbungi, Eastern Bullrush, Eastern Bulrush
Typha orientalis, the Oriental cattail or raupō, is a tall perennial wetland reed from the cattail family (Typhaceae). Grow it with its roots kept wet, in shallow water or a damp margin, and give it full sun.
Typha orientalis, commonly known as bulrush, cumbungi, or raupō, is a perennial herbaceous plant in the genus Typha. It is native to Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Mongolia, Myanmar, Philippines, China and the Russian Far East (Sakhalin and Primorye).
T. orientalis is a wetland plant that grows on the edges of ponds, lakes, salt marshes, and slow flowing rivers and streams.
The species is found across East Asia, Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand. The plant was introduced to the Chatham Islands of New Zealand by Māori.
Known as raupō in New Zealand, the plant was quite useful to Māori. The rhizomes were cooked and eaten, while the pollen was collected and baked into cakes known as pungapunga. The leaves were used for roofs and walls and occasionally for canoe sails, as well as a material for making kites. Many of the first shelters constructed for European settlers in the 19th century were made from raupō.
Typha albida · Typha alekseevii · Lesser Bulrush · Typha ×argoviensis · Typha austro-orientalis · Typha azerbaijanensis · Typha ×bavarica · Cape Bulrush · Typha changbaiensis · Typha davidiana · Southern cattail · Elephant grass
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Typha orientalis by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
