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NEYEDC improve and inform environmental decision making, conservation, land management and sustainable development in North and East Yorkshire through the collation, management, analysis and dissemination of biodiversity information.

The Natural History of Yorkshire in 100 Species

Explore the rich and diverse natural history of our region through the stories of 100 species, told by the people who know them best.

#39 Common Cottongrass by Wendy English

Meet Wendy English, botany recorder and North York Moors National park volunteer!

Wendy is an enthusiastic amateur botanist, interested in habitats and their conservation. She is the botany recorder for Whitby Naturalists’ Club and has been a conservation volunteer for Fylingdales Moor in the North York Moors National Park (NYMNP) since the scheme began in 2007. Alongside plants, Wendy also records amphibians and reptiles, bats, butterflies, and more recently moths, regularly submitting her records to us here at NEYEDC and to BSBI. You can find her on twitter @WhitbyBotanist, or contact her via email on plants@whitbynaturalists.uk.  

Wendy has always enjoyed the natural world, with a particular interest in plants. When she was able to retire early and move to Whitby, she started volunteering for practical conservation projects with the NYMNP and joined the North East Yorkshire Botany Group, run at that time by Vincent Jones, BSBI VC62 Recorder. She quickly learned how little she knew about plants, but the boundless enthusiasm, knowledge and patience of Vince and other members of the group opened her eyes to a fascinating world of study and the importance of good recording to conservation.

Common Cottongrass.

Wendy’s chosen species is the Common Cottongrass Eriophorum angustifolium. Despite the name, Cottongrass is not in fact a grass, instead a member of the sedge family, Cyperaceae. It grows on peat or acidic soils, on moorland, heath, and open wetlands. It begins to flower in April and May, but it is when the fertilised flowers develop their white, bristled seed-heads in the summer that it becomes clear where it gets its name of Cottongrass or ‘bog cotton’. Whilst common in Yorkshire, it is classified as Vulnerable on the England Red Data List (2014). A native of the northern hemisphere, it grows right across the north of North America and Eurasia where suitable habitat exists. Whilst cotton is in the name, the bristles which grow on this plant are not suited to textile manufacturing, but nevertheless it has historically been used across Europe in the production of paper, pillows, dressings, and other products. For more information on Common Cottongrass, see the NBN atlas or iNaturalist.

Wendy picked Cottongrass as a species that doesn’t get the attention it deserves; ‘The North York Moors are famous for their expanses of purple heather in summer – but cottongrass is rarely mentioned, despite the striking swathes of white across dark moors in June/July. One of my enduring memories of walking the Pennine Way is entering Yorkshire at Black Hill early in the summer, where, contrary to its name, the entire landscape was covered with the dancing heads of Cottongrass, with a soundtrack of calling wading birds.’

'What's that white stuff on the moor – surely it can't be snow in June!'. This is not an uncommon question from people visiting the North York Moors from the south! On a dry year, the fluffy white seed heads of Cottongrass can be seen for miles.

Three species of Cottongrass grow in Yorkshire: Common Cottongrass Eriophorum angustifolium and Hare's-tail Cottongrass E. vaginatum grow on peat in boggy areas, whereas the much less common Broad-leaved Cottongrass E. latifolium requires a more calcareous soil. E. angustifolium has multiple seed heads, and spreads with rhizomes; E. vaginatum grows in tussocks often in blanket bog, with single seed heads. E. angustifolium can also be spotted after the seed heads have gone by the rich deep red of its older leaves. Because Cottongrass grows in wet boggy areas, it acts as a warning when crossing the moors, where some hazardous bogs still exist.

Both of the common Cottongrass species are widely used in peatland restoration and flood reduction schemes. Plug plants of Common Cottongrass can be planted behind barriers of coir preventing water runoff from eroding the peat, and slowing the flow of water off the moors. It often grows in conjunction with sphagnums, which significantly increase moisture retention. Organisations such as Yorkshire Peat Partnership are involved in such projects throughout Yorkshire. Yorkshire Wildlife Trust have also managed a project on the Fylingdales Estate close to Whitby, the Jugger Howe Restoration Project, where Common Cottongrass has been a key species. Wendy and other volunteers had been part of a team working on reducing erosion on Jugger Howe prior to this project, with some small scale success, so the investment in a large-scale restoration of the site by YWT was particularly exciting. The use of Common Cottongrass plug plants will be key to the project's success, and it will be interesting for Wendy and other volunteers to monitor vegetation change in the aftermath of the project, particularly the survival and spread of the Cottongrass.

The rare Large Heath butterfly is an England BAP Priority Species and a species of high priority concern for butterfly conservation. The larval foodplant for the Large Heath is Cottongrass – mainly Hare's-tail, although caterpillars have been found occasionally on Common Cottongrass. There are several sites for Large Heath on the North York Moors close to Whitby.

Swathes of Common Cottongrass on uplands in Yorkshire.

Recording and monitoring

Margaret Atherdon set up a monitoring scheme in the 1970's for May Moss – a raised bog behind the MOD station on Fylingdales Moor. Margaret is still monitoring her original transect, with help from the North York Moors and PLACE volunteers, including Wendy. The number of transects has been increased and now includes areas where trees have been removed from the bog so that habitat progression is recorded as well as the quality of the main bog habitat. The monitoring scheme records DAFOR distribution of key plants across the transects, including E. angustifolium and E. vaginatum.

The North East Yorkshire Botany Group (NEYBG) records plant distribution throughout VC62 (North East Yorkshire). Their website also lists field meetings of the group.

Further information and acknowledgements

NEYEDC would like to thank Wendy for her time and expertise in helping to create this blog. If you’d be interested in contributing a piece for the series, contact Lucy at lucy.baldwin@neyedc.co.uk. To find out more about biological recording, see the Naturalists page on our website.

NEYEDC