What’s that? A wool flock or a flower?

It was summertime, on Achill Island, and I was totally captured by the stunning scenery, the breathtaking cliffs and deep blue skies. Sheep grazed freely and ruminated just a few meters from me, I could be aware of the dramatic beat of the Atlantic’s waves shattering many meters below.

Everything was perfect and reminded me a sense of joy and peace, I could experience Mayo’s wild beauty! Just then I spotted a curious thing and I thought to myself: ”That’s a wool flock, sheep must have been here!”, but later on I discovered that the white wool-like mass was a very common sedge in Mayo, known as Bog Cotton. This mass is composed of seeds with hairs and it aids in wind-dispersal or in trapping solar radiation.

Definitely it wasn’t a wool flock and the only thing about sheep and bog cotton was that they can eat it when in tender plants!

Posted by Donna