Japanese name: ヒメガマ（姫蒲） Scientific name:Typha domingensis
[Overview]
A perennial 1.5–2 m tall, found in shallow ponds and marshes and along rivers.
It has a thick rhizome.
The leaves are simple and alternate, linear, 1–1.5 m long and 0.5–1 cm wide.
There are male and female flowers; a cylindrical flower spike is produced at the stem tip, with the female spike (female flower group), 5–20 cm long, borne below the male spike (male flower group), 6–30 cm long.
Between the male and female flower groups there is a bare axis.
The pollen is yellow, in short grains that do not stick together.
The stigma is linear to lanceolate.
In the fruiting period the stigmas become colored and the female spike turns brown.
The fruit is a nut.
[Uses]
The pollen, called hoo, is used as a remedy for wounds.
The ripe female spikes were used as tinder (hokuchi).
[Cultivation]
Propagate by division.
It prefers a sunny location.
Paddy soil is suitable for planting.
The aboveground parts die back in winter, but keep the water from drying up throughout the year.
From spring to autumn, push slow-release chemical fertilizer or fermented oil cake into the soil.
