cotton grass

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cotton grass

Any of various sedges of the genus Eriophorum, chiefly of wet places in northern temperate and cold regions and bearing one or more conspicuous tufts of cottony bristles.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

cotton grass

(Plants) any of various N temperate and arctic grasslike bog plants of the cyperaceous genus Eriophorum, whose clusters of long silky hairs resemble cotton tufts. Also called: bog cotton

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

cot′ton grass`

any rushlike plant constituting the genus Eriophorum, of the sedge family, common in swampy places and bearing spikes resembling tufts of cotton.

[1590–1600]

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Noun

cotton grass - any sedge of the genus Eriophorum; north temperate bog plants with tufted spikes

cotton rush

sedge - grasslike or rushlike plant growing in wet places having solid stems, narrow grasslike leaves and spikelets of inconspicuous flowers

Eriophorum, genus Eriophorum - cotton grass

common cotton grass, Eriophorum angustifolium - having densely tufted white cottony or downlike glumes

Translations

cotton grass

n (Bot) → erioforo

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

References in classic literature ?

We found a short valley between rugged tors which led to an open, grassy space flecked over with the white cotton grass. In the middle of it rose two great stones, worn and sharpened at the upper end until they looked like the huge corroding fangs of some monstrous beast.

View in context

Blanket bogs have abundant sphagnum mosses and sedges and cotton grass.

Bruce Russell: Don't grouse about sporting moors -- they are important for conservation

Margaret paused to pick a piece of cotton grass, tucking it behind her ear.

Reading to the wind; Sisters Margaret and Audrey come to their favourite spot once a year - might this be the last time?

The Pennine PEATLIFE project in the last year has included: | 8,000 bags of a mix of heather, sphagnum moss and cotton grass cut, airlifted by helicopter and spread over dried-out peatland by hand, to stimulate the regrowth of vegetation.

Peatland rescue project provides multiple benefits

It is home to red and black grouse, skylarks, meadow pipits and mountain hares, along with plant species like heather and hare's tail cotton grass and deer grass.

Catastrophic impact on environment cannot be underestimated; THE START

cotton grass In addition to grouse butts nearby moorland has evidence of earlier human activity in the form of crosses and tumuli (burial grounds) and there are all round distant views.

Stepping back in history; this week bob woodhouse visits danby beacon and oakley walls

Even though moors are a largely treeless landscape, the vast blanket of thick gorse, heather and dry cotton grass that covers much of this terrain provided plenty of fuel for an unkempt flame, particularly after one of the hottest and driest Junes of recent years.

Fire on the Moor: With public attention fixed on the recent Saddleworth Moor fire, it can be easy to think such landscapes are little more than tinderboxes waiting to be set alight. But there's much to uncover if you dig a little deeper, says Keith Wilson

Cotton grass around Coquet Valley in Northumberland

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Yet because flowers are such a persistent ingredient, Jovan has also to admit that it helps to know your kingcups, cotton grass, and yellow flag.

Flower power: Winifred Nicholson was truly wise to the pleasure that colour can impart

Prof Mark Reed, who led research at BCU, said: "The call of a curlew or cotton grass quivering in the wind are sights many of us may associate with our often solitary, yet beautiful moorland landscape.

Bid to save irreplaceable peatlands across UK

"And thanks to the work we've already done to tackle Molinia, we are going to be able to plant more species such as heather, cotton grass and bilberries.