As spring is finally arriving in Iceland, wild plants are starting to wake up from their winter slumber and preparing to fill the meadows and valleys with their beauty. It's incredible how green and lush Iceland becomes during the short summer. Wild flowers are a prominent sight and play an active role in the photographers frame.
This is an image of a cotton grass field. Known in Icelandic as Klófífa, it is very common throughout the country from the lowlands up to 700–800 meter altitude. It usually grows in wet and swampy soil and is an extremely hardy plant, commonly growing in arctic regions.
Cotton grass seeds and stems are edible and are used in traditional Native american and Alaskan cuisine. Roots are used for medicinal purposes, through a process of decoction, infusion or poultice, to treat ailments of the human gastrointestinal tract and as treatment of diarrhea.
Attempts to make a cotton-like thread from the hairs of the plant's seed-heads have been thwarted by its brittleness, but it has been used in the production of paper and candle wicks and was used as a feather substitute in pillow stuffing. It has also been used to dress wounds.
Westfjords, Iceland
Nikon D810, Irix 11mm
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