Typha orientalis

{{Speciesbox

|name =

|image = Typha-Orientalis.jpg

|image_caption = Leaves and flower spikes of Typha orientalis

|status = LC

|status_system = IUCN3.1

|status_ref = {{cite iucn |author=Zhuang, X. |date=2011 |title=Typha orientalis |volume=2011 |page=e.T168629A6524306 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2011-2.RLTS.T168629A6524306.en |access-date=19 November 2021}}

|genus = Typha

|species = orientalis

|authority = C.Presl

|synonyms =

Typha japonica Miq.
Typha latifolia var. orientalis (C. Presl) Rohrb.
Typha muelleri Rohrb.
Typha orientalis var. brunnea Skvortsov in Baranov & Skvortsov
Typha shuttleworthii subsp. orientalis (C. Presl) Graebn.
Typha shuttleworthii var. orientalis (C. Presl) Rohrb.

|synonyms_ref =

}}

Typha orientalis, commonly known as bulrush, cumbungi,{{cite web | url = https://profiles.ala.org.au/opus/foa/profile/Typha+orientalis | title = Typha orientalis | publisher = Flora of Australia. Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment, Canberra | access-date = 28 March 2020}} 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).{{cite web |url=http://www.nzpcn.org.nz/flora_details.asp?ID=2279|title=Typha orientalis|website=New Zealand Plant Network |access-date=16 June 2025}}[http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=2&taxon_id=200024681 Flora of China, v 23 p 161.]

T. orientalis is a wetland plant that grows on the edges of ponds, lakes, salt marshes, and slow flowing rivers and streams.

Description

Typha orientalis is a perennial herb which grows up to {{cvt|3|m}} in height and has a rhizome of up to {{cvt|40|mm}} in diameter. The long, sausage-like flower spikes are between {{cvt|300–500|mm}} in length.

Taxonomy

The species was first described by Carl Borivoj Presl in the Epimeliae Botanicae in 1851.{{cite web|url=https://vicflora.rbg.vic.gov.au/flora/taxon/d8e250bb-40c8-422d-aa20-c93bfce43664 |title= Typha orientalis C.Presl Broadleaf Cumbungi |website=Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria |access-date=16 June 2025}}

Etymology

The species epithet orientalis refers to the species being found in East Asia.{{cite q|Q118646408|pp=102–105}} The plant's Māori name, raupō, is a word used in different Polynesian languages to describe bulrushes.

Distribution

The species is found across East Asia, Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand.{{cite web|url=https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn%3Alsid%3Aipni.org%3Anames%3A836892-1 |title=Typha orientalis C.Presl |website=Plants of the World Online |access-date=16 June 2025}} The plant is introduced to the Chatham Islands of New Zealand, where Māori introduced the plant prior to European settlement.

Uses

Known as raupō in New Zealand,{{cite journal |last1=Johnson |first1=Peter |title=Wetlands – Reeds, rushes, sedges and low growers |journal=Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand |date=24 September 2007 |url=https://teara.govt.nz/en/wetlands/page-4 |access-date=28 March 2020}} 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.{{Cite book |last=Lehnebach |first=Carlos A. |url=https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q124332398 |title=Flora: Celebrating our Botanical World |last2=Regnault |first2=Claire |last3=Rice |first3=Rebecca |last4=Awa |first4=Isaac Te |last5=Yates |first5=Rachel A. |date=1 November 2023 |publisher=Te Papa Press |isbn=978-1-9911509-1-2 |language=English}} The leaves were used for roofs and walls and occasionally for canoe sails,{{cite book |first= Lawrie |last=Metcalf |title=The Cultivation of New Zealand Native Grasses| author-link=Lawrie Metcalf| year=1998| page=48| publisher=Random House| location=Auckland, New Zealand}} as well as a material for making kites.{{Cite Q|Q58677501}} Many of the first shelters constructed for European settlers in the 19th century were made from raupō.

Gallery

Typha orientalis 509946281.jpg|Typha orientalis typically grows in wetlands, such as in the Brooklands Lagoon along the Styx River in Christchurch, New Zealand

Typha orientalis 485048309.jpg|Leaves of Typha orientalis

Typha orientalis flowerhead10 NT - Flickr - Macleay Grass Man.jpg|Flower head after bursting open to disperse seeds

Typha orientalis seeds.JPG|Seeds

Young cattails.jpg|Pickled Typha orientalis rhizome sold in China