Balsam pear is a perennial aquatic or marshy herb of the family Balsamaceae, genus Balsam pear. The above ground stem of the cattail is 1.3~2 meters high, and the leaf blade is smooth and glabrous. It is often found in slow-flowing rivers and is distributed in the Philippines, Japan and the former Soviet Union. The young leaves of the stem can be eaten as a vegetable, while its fiber-rich leaves are often used to weave handicrafts for export.

Main value

The whole grass is a good raw material for papermaking, with fiber content of 35%-60%, and the rate of flax is over 38.3%; the leaves and leaf sheaths can be processed into artificial cotton by alkaline cooking method; it is suitable to be harvested in July-August, and the fresh grass collected in September is 81.78% of moisture and 3.16% of crude protein, Crude fiber 4.06%; dry whole plant containing 10.20% water, hemicellulose 16.6%, cellulose 56.2%. After degumming the fiber can weave sacks and rope rolling, its tensile strength and quality are more than straw rope; mature female inflorescences called cattail stick, can be dipped in oil or not dipped in oil used for lighting; female inflorescences on the hairs called cattail velvet, almost pure fiber, commonly used as pillow floss.