Cattail

The Cattail is an upgrade for the Lily Pad. It costs $10,000 to buy from Crazy Dave's shop, and 225 sun to upgrade the Lily Pad in the pool. Its tail and name are based on the Typha latifolia, a perrennial herbacous in the genus Typha. Its face, however, is based on the domestic cat.

Suburban Almanac Entry
Cattail 

Cattails can attack at any lane and shoot down Balloon Zombies too.

Must be planted on Lily Pads

"Woof!" says Cattail. "Woof, woof, woof! Does this confuse you? Do you expect me to say "Meow" like a cat just because the word "cat" is in my name and I also look like a cat? That's not how things work around here. I refuse to be pigeonholed."

Cost: 225

Recharge: very slow

Usage
The Cattail has the damage and rate of fire of a Repeater. The Spikes it fires are homing, and can hit zombies anywhere. It attacks zombies closest to the plant, though it prioritizes Balloon Zombies. However, it cannot attack Shield Zombies around their Shields. It is very useful for killing Digger Zombies if they're in the back row, as it will kill them before they can move.

Strategy
Because a single Cattail can cover all six lanes, it makes a good early defensive plant. It also helps deal with Digger Zombies and Imps as well as Balloon Zombies. Unfortunately, all your Cattails will usually fire at the same target (except under certain conditions), and when that target dies, spikes in the air are wasted. This limits the effectiveness of large numbers of Cattails. It is a good idea to use Cattails in limited numbers in Survival Mode.



Trivia

 * The Cattail is the only aquatic plant that is an upgrade.
 * A Cattail can be downgraded to a Lily Pad if you have a Pumpkin on it and try to dig up the Cattail, as that would cause the Pumpkin might fall into the water otherwise.
 * Bungee Zombies and Catapult Zombies can also downgrade a Cattail with a Pumpkin.
 * The Cattail is the most expensive aquatic plant, costing 225 (25 extra for Lily Pad) Sun with a 250 sun total.
 * During the ending credits of Zombies on Your Lawn, it is shown next to Laura Shigihara's name.
 * According to this website, this is because Cattail is her cameo plant.
 * She said that she has a pink hat she wears when its cold outside - similar to the hat that Cattail wears.
 * When a zombie is defeated and the spikes from Cattails are still aiming for the same direction, it will not damage the Zombie behind the defeated one (unlike some other projectiles, which hit the zombies at the back).
 * This is due to the fact that Spikes are "honed" in on the zombie the Cattail aims for.
 * The Cattail is a pun upon the Typha latifolia, commonly known as a cattail, as evidenced by the Cattail's cat's head and its tail a Cattail seed structure.
 * The Cattail's spike moves slower than the Cactus'.
 * The Cattail, the Starfruit, the Gloom-shroom, the Cob Cannon, and the Threepeater are the only plants that can hit zombies in other lanes.
 * Cattail seems to be standing on a folded Lilypad, or maybe has 4 lilypads for "legs".
 * The Cattail and the Lily Pad are the only aquatic plants that can have a Pumpkin on it.
 * The Cattail is one of the two plants with a tail, the other one being the Cob Cannon.
 * The Cattail, the Cactus and the Sea-shroom are the only projectile-shooting plants that use a projectile that is colored significantly differently from the plant itself.
 * The Cattail's spikes, on the DS version of the game, will sometimes miss the zombies, and keep circling it, until it dies.
 * The Cattail has the longest range among the shooting plants. (Go Cattail!!!)
 * ProjectileCactus.png Cattail, the Imitater, and the Gatling Pea are the only plants with headwear.
 * If you look closely, The Cattail has one tooth sticking out, similar to the Starfruit, but a fang.
 * It is unknown whether the Cattail is female, or male. However it can be assumed that it's female from the pink cap.

PumpCats.png

 * Cattail can fire in the most directions. The plant that fires in the second most directions is Gloom-shroom (8) and the third is Starfruit (5).
 * Cattail is one of four plants who can fire at a Digger Zombie, the others being Gloom-shroom, Split Pea, and Starfruit.
 * Cattail is also one of two plants who can get rid of Balloon Zombies. The other is Blover.
 * Cattail is the only plant to resemble an animal.
 * Surprisingly, Cattail will not aim at a Snorkel Zombie. This is odd because it can fire anywhere on the screen and will aim at Balloon Zombies.
 * In its almanac entry, Cattail says "Woof" like a dog instead of saying "Meow" like a cat. Apparently, according to Cattail herself, this is because "That is not the way things work around here."