Going to Seed

Looks like these cats' tails or reed mace are about to explode their seeds. The white fluff is an indication that the fertilised seeds are ready to turn into a mass of candy floss and disperse. It's called dehiscence!

There is a long running battle about the name of this aquatic plant - it's commonly known as bulrush but apparently that's incorrect and the correct name is reed mace. The mistake is allegedly down to a picture called Moses in the Bulrushes by Sir Lawrence Alma Tadema, showing a bit of artistic licence: but because it's in a private collection no one's seen it for years and so it's become a bit of a legend. His other pictures of Moses feature delphiniums so no risk of confusion there.

Useful tip: the fluff is very good for making an emergency sleeping bag, but would also do well, failing an emergency, for stuffing pillows!