The bulrush grows in the water along swamped shores. It has hollow creeping rootstalks. The thick cylindrical stem may rise up to 1.5-2 meters. The brown spikes form a panicle on the tip of the stem. It flowers in June-July. A few short and coarse leaves occur in the lower part of the stem, with their bases usually submerged.
Owing to the fast growth of rootstalks, the bulrush easily inhabits still waters, and its thickets purify them.
The rootstalks contain big quantities of starch. In the old days, the dried rootstalks were ground to flour, and it was added to rye flour when baking bread.
/ * The photos at lake.peipsi.org are cross-posted from commons.wikimedia.org and are used for familiarization purposes only. No commercial use of the photos is allowed. For more information about to use the photos see the originals on commons.wikimedia.org. /
