Cotton grass - Chilcombe Lane
Introduction
The photograph on this page of Cotton grass - Chilcombe Lane by Sarah Smith as part of the Geograph project.
The Geograph project started in 2005 with the aim of publishing, organising and preserving representative images for every square kilometre of Great Britain, Ireland and the Isle of Man.
There are currently over 7.5m images from over 14,400 individuals and you can help contribute to the project by visiting https://www.geograph.org.uk
Cotton grass - Chilcombe Lane
Image: © Sarah Smith Taken: 6 Apr 2010
Before the lane descends a little further and sweeps round and up to meet the mainroad, there is evidence of a spring and swampy ground on the left with cotton grass - or bog cotton - a species of eriophorum and form of sedge. It is easily recognised in the early summer with its white fluffy cotton head which in the old days was often used for stuffing pillows. Attempts to spin a thread from this "cotton" have proved futile as the fibres are brittle and do not twist successfully. The gridline runs roughly along the lefthand hedge and up to the top of the hill to the right of the barn.
Images are licensed for reuse under creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0
Image Location
Latitude
50.725221
Longitude
-2.674029