Bog Cotton - Cottongrass - Hares Tail
Bog Cotton or cottongrass or ( its other common name) is is a plant of very damp peaty ground. It is a member of the sedge family. Even though it looks like a type of grass - it isn't. The stem is 20-70 cm tall, and has three to five cotton-like inflorescences hanging from the top. The long narrow leaves which surround each stem turn from green to red-brown in autumn adding to the bogs overall red hue.Bog Cotton looks exactly like cotton wool growing out of the top of a piece of grass.

Cotton Wool Blowing In The Wind - Plant of The Bogs
It looks very much like cotton wool blowing in the wind. The tufts of cottony bristles, drooping from the stems give the plant a strange habit all of its own. The name "bog cotton" gives you a real clue as to where its habitat here on the Western Isles is. Bog Cotton inhabits shallow, standing water or wet, peaty ground. Rarely still - the cotton blows in the wind

Modified Petals and Sepals
The ‘hairs’ are actually modified petals and sepals that provide with the assistance of the wind - long distance dispersal of the attached seeds.

Pollination Helped By The Wind - Bristles Get Longer
The airborne pollination is helped by the wind and once the plant has been pollinated the bristles get longer and take on the look of the the cotton. Borne on 30-50cm high, cylindrical stems, the little seeds are held in fluffy, downy, white tufts which quiver and shake in the wind, a most effective dispersal method.

Candle Wicks - Pillows - Wound Dressings
Bog Cotton - or Cotton grass used to be used in the past for making the candle wicks and also for stuffing pillows. It was even used in wound dressings during the first world war.

Food for Grouse and Heath Butterflies
Cotton grass also provides food for grouse and also for heath butterflies