Japanese name: ガマ（蒲） Scientific name:Typha latifolia
[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, 1–2 m long and 1–2 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), 10–20 cm long and 1.5–2 cm in diameter, borne directly below the male spike (male flower group), 5–12 cm long.
No bare section of axis appears between the male and female flower groups.
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.
It is also famous from the story of the White Hare of Inaba in the Kojiki.
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.
