Eriophorum scheuchzeri
| Eriophorum scheuchzeri | |
|---|---|
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Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Monocots |
| Clade: | Commelinids |
| Order: | Poales |
| Family: | Cyperaceae |
| Genus: | Eriophorum |
| Species: | E. scheuchzeri |
| Binomial name | |
| Eriophorum scheuchzeri Hoppe | |
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Eriophorum scheuchzeri. |
Eriophorum scheuchzeri is a species of flowering plant in the sedge family known by the common names Scheuchzer's cottongrass and white cottongrass. It has a arctic circumpolar and circumboreal distribution in the Northern Hemisphere. It can be found in Alaska, across Canada, in the Arctic islands, Greenland, Iceland, and across Eurasia.[1] There are disjunct occurrences in the Rocky Mountains, in the high mountains of southern Europe (the Pyrenees, Alps and the Caucasus)[2] on Mount Daisetsu in Japan and some other Asian mountains.[3]
This species is a perennial herb producing colonies via its rhizome. The thin stems may reach 70 centimetres (28 in) tall, but they are often much shorter. The rolled leaf blades are up to {convert|12|cm}} long. Leaves at the top of the stem have no blades, just black-tipped sheaths. The inflorescence is a solitary flower head with wispy, cottony, bright white, red-tinged, or silvery bristles up to 3 centimetres (1.2 in) long.[3][4]
This plant can be found at sea level in northern parts of its range and at over 4,000 meters (13,000 feet) in elevation farther south.[3] It is a helophyte. It is restricted to wet habitat types.[3] It grows in marshes and wet meadows, by ponds and lakes, and on riverbanks, in moist and wet gravel and sand substrates.[1] It often lines the edges of standing water bodies. It is commonly associated with mosses and other sedges, such as Carex aquatilis.[3]
Native and indigenous peoples have long been familiar with the plant and its uses. The Inuit have at least three names for Scheuchzer's cottongrass: pualunnguat, meaning "imitation mittens"; kumaksiutinnguat, meaning "an imitation object to remove lice"; and in North Baffin, kanguujat, meaning "what looks like snow geese". It has been used as a lamp wick, as a boot insole, and as a swab.[1] The cottony flowers have been used as dressings to absorb wound drainage.[5] The plant is also edible and sweet-tasting.[1]
This plant is consumed by muskoxen.[1] Waterfowl feed on the seeds.[3]
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 Aiken, S.G., et al. 2007. Flora of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago: Descriptions, Illustrations, Identification, and Information Retrieval. NRC Research Press, National Research Council of Canada, Ottawa.
- ↑ Anderberg, A. "Den Virtuella Floran: Eriophorum scheuchzeri Hoppe". Museum of Natural History, Stockholm. Retrieved 13 July 2016.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 Ladyman, J.A.R. Eriophorum scheuchzeri Hoppe (white cottongrass): A technical conservation assessment. [Online]. USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Region. March 2, 2006.
- ↑ Eriophorum scheuchzeri. Flora of North America.
- ↑ Eriophorum scheuchzeri. Native American Ethnobotany. University of Michigan, Dearborn.
