Yorkshire Fog

Holcus lanatus

Walking through a local field I came across drifts of this beautiful grass. It is a variable, tufted grass with grey-green leaves and tall, downy stems. The pinkish-red flowers are tightly packed to begin with, until they spread and open out in two-flowered spikelets. It is a perennial grass, and grows up to 1m tall.

It flowers from May to August, and is found in meadows, woodland margins and openings, and wasteground. It is a common and widespread species.

Photographs taken June 2012, local field, Staffordshire.