The fluffy, white heads of common cotton-grass dot our brown, boggy moors and heaths as if a giant bag of cotton wool balls has been thrown across the landscape!
Common cotton-grass is familiar as the fluffy, white seed heads that dot our brown, boggy moorlands and heaths as if someone has thrown a giant bag of cotton wool balls across the landscape. Blowing in the breeze, they bring these isolated places to life in summer. Despite its name, common cotton-grass is a member of the sedge family, rather than being a grass.
How to identify
The white, cottony seed heads of common cotton-grass are extremely distinctive. It has dark green, narrow leaves and drooping flower heads.
Distribution
Widespread.
Did you know?
Historically, common cotton-grass was used to stuff pillows in Sussex. It was also collected and used in Scotland to dress wounds during the First World War.
