Day 8 in the countdown to the BioBlitz on Friday 6th and Saturday 7th July and it's time to take a look at Common Cotton-grass (Eriophorum angustifolium), the next in our run down of top-10 species at Dove Stone. Common Cotton-grass is a really characteristic species for us at Dove Stone, a plant that's really iconic of moors and bogs. Cotton-grass just looks fantastic - particularly when you see it around a moorland pool. The white 'hair' of cotton-grass are actually modified petals and sepals and these help to provide wind-assisted, long distance dispersal of the attached seeds. And despite the name it's not actually a grass but more closely linked to a sedge !
We'll definitely be counting this one next Saturday at the BioBlitz...
Photos courtesy of Ken Gartside