Plantae > Tracheophyta > Liliopsida > Poales > Cyperaceae > Eriophorum > Eriophorum callitrix

Eriophorum callitrix (arctic cottongrass)

Synonyms: Eriophorum callitrix f. moravium; Eriophorum callitrix var. moravium; Eriophorum callitrix var. pallidum

Wikipedia Abstract

Eriophorum callitrix, commonly known as Arctic cotton, Arctic cottongrass, suputi, or pualunnguat in Inuktitut, is a perennial Arctic plant in the Cyperaceae family. It is one of the most widespread flowing plants in the northern hemisphere and tundra regions. Upon every stem grows a single round, white and wooly fruit. The seed heads are covered in this cottony mass and usually disperse when the wind carries them away. They also have narrow, grass-like leaves. This plant is food for migrating snow geese, caribou and their calves. The Inuit used the seed heads as wicks in seal oil lamps. Clumps were placed into babies' pants and then thrown away when soiled.
View Wikipedia Record: Eriophorum callitrix

Attributes

Lifespan [1]  Perennial
Structure [1]  Grass

Protected Areas

Name IUCN Category Area acres Location Species Website Climate Land Use
Bering Land Bridge National Preserve Ib 2823882 Alaska, United States
Gates of the Arctic National Park Ib 184461 Alaska, United States
Noatak Biosphere Reserve 7500143 Alaska, United States  
Ostrov Vrangelya (Wrangel Island) Zapovednik Nature Monument III 180 Russia    
Taimyrsky Biosphere Reserve Ia 4403240 Taimyr, Russia

Citations

Attributes / relations provided by
1USDA Plants Database, U. S. Department of Agriculture
Abstract provided by DBpedia licensed under a Creative Commons License
Species taxanomy provided by GBIF Secretariat (2022). GBIF Backbone Taxonomy. Checklist dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei accessed via GBIF.org on 2023-06-13; License: CC BY 4.0