On the Wildside: The many uses of reedmace did not include hiding baby Moses

Interesting species include highly-poisonous hemlock water-dropwort, invasive Himalayan balsam, native gypsywort, and common reedmace (pictured). Often commonly known as ‘bulrush’ Typha latifolia is more correctly called reedmace with bulrush reserved for a different species, Schoenoplectus lacustris. Confusion came about for various reasons including the 1904 painting by Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema ‘Moses in the Bulrushes’ (Finding of Moses), with the baby supposedly depicted in a basket hidden amongst reedmace but called bulrushes. However, the problem with this oft-repeated story is that the paintings of Moses by Alma-Tadema and others, do not show reedmace/bulrush. In any case, the real plant that hid baby Moses would have been papyrus (Cyperus papyrus). So, the story we all repeat is wrong and even the guru Richard Mabey is misinformed about this. But of course, when he wrote the seminal volume ‘Flora Britannica’ in 1996, he didn’t have access to the internet to check the original pictures or at least prints of them!

Reedmace has been widely used by people, the roots, raw or cooked, boiled and eaten like potatoes, or else macerated and boiled to produce sweet syrup. Alternatively, roots may be dried and ground into powder rich in protein and mixed with wheat flour to be used to make bread, biscuits, or muffins. Baby shoots emerging from the rhizomes, may be picked to be eaten raw, best harvested in midwinter from November to February. There are many other uses of this plant as food, but also for other purposes such as making paper from stems and leaves, but which is strong, heavy, and not easy to bleach and so only used for decorative purposes. In New York in 1853, with reedmace known as cat’s-tails in North America, large amounts of this rough paper were produced because of a shortage of raw materials for ordinary paper. The seeds can be used for insulation or filling mattresses.

Professor Ian D. Rotherham, researcher, writer & broadcaster on wildlife & environmental issues, is contactable on [email protected]; follow Ian’s blog (https://ianswalkonthewildside.wordpress.com/) and Twitter @IanThewildside