Weeds of Australia - Fact Sheet

Top Scientific Name Family Common Names Origin Naturalised Distribution Notes

Scientific Name

Typha latifolia L.

Family

Typhaceae

Common Names

black paddy, broad leaved cattail, broad-leaf cattail, broadleaf cattail, broad-leaved cat-tail, broad-leaved cattail, bulrush, candlestick, cat o'nine tails, cat tail, cat-tail, cattail, common cat-tail, common cattail, Cooper's reed, Cossack asparagus, cumbungi, flags, great cattail, giant reed-mace, great reedmace, lesser reed-mace, lesser reedmace, narrow leaved reedmace, soft flag, water torch

Origin

Native to northern and eastern Africa, Europe, the middle-east, western and northern Asia, North and South America.

Naturalised Distribution

Widely naturalised in south-eastern Australia (i.e. in the coastal districts of central New South Wales, in central and southern Victoria and in Tasmania).

Also widely naturalised overseas, including in south-eastern Asia (i.e. Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea and the Philippines), New Zealand, southern South America, the Caribbean and Hawaii.

Notes

Common cat-tail (Typha latifolia) is regarded as an environmental weed in Tasmania and Victoria. It is also listed in the Global Invasive Species Database (GISD).