# tussock cottongrass

*Eriophorum vaginatum*

The 'cotton' is actually made of long perianth bristles that act like parachutes, allowing seeds to be carried miles away by the wind.

- **Taxonomy:** Plantae › Tracheophyta › Liliopsida › Poales › Cyperaceae › Eriophorum
- **IUCN Red List status:** Least Concern
- **Population trend:** stable
- **Biome:** wetland
- **Habitat:** Acidic bogs, peatlands, moorlands, and arctic tundra.
- **Diet:** Photosynthetic autotroph (requires sunlight, water, and minerals from acidic soil).
- **Range:** Northern North America, Northern Europe, Siberia, British Isles
- **Size:** 30 to 60 centimeters in height.
- **Lifespan:** Perennial; individual tussocks can live for several decades.
- **Active:** diurnal
- **Threats:** Peat mining, drainage of wetlands for agriculture, and rising temperatures in arctic regions.
- **Safe to approach?:** Harmless. You can safely touch the soft seed heads. However, be mindful of the boggy terrain where it grows; stay on boardwalks to avoid sinking or damaging the fragile peat ecosystem.

## About

Eriophorum vaginatum , the hare's-tail cottongrass , tussock cottongrass , or sheathed cottonsedge , is a species of perennial herbaceous flowering plant in the sedge family Cyperaceae. It is native to bogs and other acidic wetlands throughout the Holarctic Kingdom. It is a 30–60 cm high tussock-forming plant with solitary spikes.

## Sources

- Plate: https://gaia-dex.com/species/e0f43ee8-85cb-463b-aef6-a73bc1aa5c3f
- iNaturalist: https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/128735
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eriophorum vaginatum
- Conservation status: IUCN Red List category, as recorded by Gaia-Dex
- Photo: https://inaturalist-open-data.s3.amazonaws.com/photos/520003683/medium.jpg (Norma Malinowski, CC-BY, via iNaturalist)

Habitat, diet, size and similar notes are AI-written summaries; check them against the linked sources before relying on them.