Cattails are usually found around the edges of freshwater lakes and ponds. Cattails were an important part of the diet of many Native Americans. Remarkably most of a cattail is edible. You can boil or even eat the roots raw. Simply wash off the roots and then boil the cleaned roots. You can even eat the stem with the best parts being the lower portion near the bottom of the plant. Not exactly my favorite food but it is edible if you are short on other more pleasant foods. The leaves can be boiled and eaten. Again I would prefer to use them as part of another dish but they are edible and can fill your stomach quite nicely. The corn dog-looking flower is even edible. It can be broken off and eaten like corn on the cob but only early in the summer when they are young. Later on in the season you would not be able to eat them.
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