Cotton Grass

 

Cotton Grass (Eriophorum angustifolium) is usually a common sight in the wet boggy regions of the forest, but this year appears to have been a particularly good year for it. Remember it, as it's a good indicator that you don't want to be walking where it's growing due the potentially hazardous nature of bog. Although it's called 'grass' it's actually a member of the sedge family. And its uses? Well, its stems and seeds are edible, and its roots and leave have medicinal astringent properties, and it has also been used to stuff pillows and to dress wounds at different times. Most things our here have some use or other, we've just forgotten them. Maybe it's time we began remembering.