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Common Cottongrass

Common Cottongrass

Eriophorum angustifolium

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How common: Very common

Common Cottongrass is a grass‑like plant of bogs and other wet ground. In early summer it blooms, and soon the flower heads turn into shining white cottony tufts that sway in the wind. It often grows in loose clumps and can spread to large patches.

Did you know?

  • The white “cotton” is made of long hairs that help the seeds travel by wind.
  • The fluffy tufts have been used as tinder.

About the species

Identification

Upright and stiff, 40–60 cm tall. Leaves dark green, narrow (about 2–4 mm), and shorter than the stem; leaf bases are brown to almost black, often reddish. At the top there are usually 3–5 small heads on thin stalks that hang. After flowering, each head becomes a bright white cotton tuft (about 3–5 cm) that soon looks tangled. Similar to Hare’s‑tail Cottongrass, but that species has just one cotton head and often forms tight tussocks. Flowers in Finland in June–July.

Plant group

Grasses, sedges and rushes

Habitat

mire

Flowering

Jun–Jul

About the habitat

Open, very wet ground that stays waterlogged: bogs and fens, marshy lake and river edges, flood meadows, and wet ditches. Common throughout the country.

Sources

Photo: Kim Hansen, CC BY-SA 3.0 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Eriophorum angustifolium upernavik 2007-08-01 1.jpg

Text: Pinkka: Yläkoulun Pinkka - Suot ja tunturit, CC BY 4.0 https://laji.fi/taxon/MX.40258

Text: Pinkka: BIO-503 Suomen kasvisto ja kasvillisuus - Sisävedet: rantaniityt, CC BY 4.0 https://laji.fi/taxon/MX.40258

Text: Pinkka (Luomus), CC BY 4.0 https://laji.fi/taxon/MX.40258

Text: Wikipedia (Finnish), CC BY-SA 4.0 https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luhtavilla

See also