Eriophorum angustifolium

Eriophorum angustifolium, commonly known as common cottongrass or common cottonsedge, is a species of sedge in the plant genus Eriophorum of the family Cyperaceae. Native to North America, North Asia, and Northern Europe, it is often found on peat or acidic soils, at open wetland, heath, or moorland. Reaching 30–80 centimetres (12–31 in) in height, the plant begins to flower in the spring, around April to May. The small, unremarkable brown and green spikey flowers, after fertilisation during early summer, develop distinctive white bristle-like seed heads that resemble tufts of cotton thread; combined with its ecological suitability to bog, these characteristics give rise to the plant's alternative name, bog cotton.

Eriophorum angustifolium is a hardy, herbaceous, rhizomatous, perennial sedge, able to endure in a variety of environments in the temperate, subarctic and arctic regions of Earth. Unlike Gossypium, the genus from which cotton is derived, the bristles which grow on E. angustifolium are unsuited to textile manufacturing. Nevertheless, in Northern Europe, they were used as a substitute in the production of paper, pillows, candle wicks, and wound-dressings. The indigenous peoples of North America use the plant in cooking and treatment of digestion problems. Following a vote in 2002, Plantlife International designated E. angustifolium the County Flower of Greater Manchester, as part of its British County Flowers campaign.

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