[Digestion] A few thoughts on Cattails

[Len Walde]

Duncan:

I think you are looking at the wrong end of the plant.  Our Native Americans 
( Indians) harvested the roots for their high starch content, for food. 
Many still do I am told.  You might want to search "Google" et al,  from 
this perspective, for more information.  Propagation is best by root 
division. The "tails" dry into a light fluffy pillow-stuffing like material.

I have spent some "Gray Matter" designing a hydroponic propagation system, 
some time ago which has some promise as an Ethanol substrate producer, but 
it is low on my "to-do" list right now.

That is about the limit of my knowledge of the plant --- I am sure others 
can provide more.

Best wishes and Merry Xmas.

Len Walde, P.E.


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Duncan Martin" <duncanjmartin at eircom.net>
To: <digestion at listserv.repp.org>
Sent: Thursday, December 20, 2007 8:08 AM
Subject: [Digestion] Cattails


> Holy Moses!
>
> Thanks to Wikipaedia, I now know that cattails are what the British call
> bulrushes -- probably not the same species as the infant Moses was
> discovered afloat in - but probably the nearest equivalent available to 
> the
> translators of the Bible.
>
> (I can see where the name "cat tail" comes from too -- very graphic! Why
> "bull" rush, I wonder? Perhaps from a comparison with the common rush, 
> which
> lacks the massive, phallic, flower/seed head of the bulrush?)
>
> Now, the bulrush MIGHT be a very productive plant AND an ideal substrate 
> for
> conversion to ethanol. The former would be likely in a semi-aquatic
> ecosystem but I have to say I find the latter unlikely, since it is not a
> plant I associate with high concentrations of starch or sugar. (The 
> original
> research mentioned was only vaguely referenced, so I have been unable to
> find it.)
>
> However, let us consider the practicalities. Bulrushes only grow in marshy
> areas and at the edges of rivers and lakes.  Although there are areas in
> which such land is quite extensive, there are no vast expanses of marsh 
> that
> we could turn over to biomass production.  Even if there were, it would be
> difficult to adapt them to modern, mechanised, farming techniques.  I
> suppose we could conceive of a world so desperate for energy that much of
> the temperature zone would be converted into a vast artificial bog farmed 
> by
> an army of peasants -- but I do not think we have reached that stage yet.
>
> I cannot think of any other way in which bulrushes could make a 
> significant
> contribution, even if the plant itself is ideal.  Am I being too 
> sceptical?
>
> I do concede that we must be open to all new ideas -- and to many old ones
> that have been dismissed in the past, perhaps wrongly, perhaps because the
> circumstances were different then.
>
> Duncan J Martin
>
> Centre Councillor
> Republic of Ireland Centre
> Chartered Institution of Wastes Management
>
> ================================
> CONTACT DETAILS
> Duncan J Martin, PhD, CEng, CSci, MIEI, MCIWM, MIChemE
> 24 Townsfield, Cloughjordan, N Tipperary, Ireland
> Mobile: +353 86 8377 906
> Home: +353 505 42087
> Email: duncanjmartin at eircom.net
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