Family: sedges (Cyperaceae)
Flowering time: May–June
Size: 20–60 cm
Habitat: wetlands, damp meadows, headwaters and bogs
The long, channelled leaves of the narrow-leaved cotton-grass (Eriophorum angustifolium) are about 5 mm wide. Its underground stem produces lateral shoots—rhizomes. The tiny flowers form inflorescences up to 2 cm long, which we in sedges call klaski. At the top of the slender stem, a composite inflorescence develops consisting of three to six pendant klaski on long pedicels. The pedicels of the spikelets are smooth. The bristles, which replace the floral involucre, elongate after flowering into a tuft of white hairs, giving the spikes the appearance of white tufts. The narrow-leaved munec occurs scattered throughout Slovenia.
Because it grows on sensitive habitats, which are destroyed especially by drying out, it is listed as a vulnerable species on the Slovenian Red List.
