Cotton Grass ( Eriophorum angustifolium. )

As I mentioned the other day Kat has been planting wildflowers in her garden.  Recently she has dug a wildlife pond and made a bog garden round the pond.  Among the plants in this wet area she has planted this cotton grass.

Despite being called Cotton grass it is in reality a Sedge.  It is tolerant of various conditions and can even be grown as a marginal plant in the edge of a pond.  It prefers acid conditions so it is common on mountains and even the arctic tundra.  The "Cotton" has in the past been used to make pillows and in Scotland used during WW1 as wound dressings.