''Eriophorum callitrix'', commonly known as Arctic cotton, Arctic cottongrass, ''suputi'', or ''pualunnguat'' in

Inuktitut Inuktitut (; , syllabics ; from , "person" + , "like", "in the manner of"), also Eastern Canadian Inuktitut, is one of the principal Inuit languages of Canada. It is spoken in all areas north of the tree line, including parts of the provinces o ...

, is a perennial Arctic plant in the sedge family,

Cyperaceae The Cyperaceae are a family of graminoid (grass-like), monocotyledonous flowering plants known as sedges. The family is large, with some 5,500 known species described in about 90 genera, the largest being the "true sedges" genus ''Carex'' w ...

. It is one of the most widespread flowering plants in the northern hemisphere and tundra regions. Upon every stem grows a single round, white and wooly fruit. The seeds are covered in this cottony mass and usually disperse when the wind carries them away. ''Eriophorum callitrix'' has narrow, grass-like leaves. Its habitats include tundra and calcareous bogs. This plant is food for migrating snow geese,

caribou Reindeer (in North American English, known as caribou if wild and ''reindeer'' if domesticated) are deer in the genus ''Rangifer''. For the last few decades, reindeer were assigned to one species, ''Rangifer tarandus'', with about 10 subspe ...

and their calves. The Inuit used the seed heads as wicks in

seal oil lamp The qulliq (seal-oil, blubber or soapstone lamp, iu, ᖁᓪᓕᖅ, ''kudlik'' ; ik, naniq), is the traditional oil lamp used by Arctic peoples, including the Inuit, the Chukchi and the Yupik peoples. This characteristic type of oil lamp ...

s. Clumps were placed into babies' pants and then thrown away when soiled.

References

External links

Polarhusky.com

callitrix Satyrus (also known as callitrix or cericopithicus) is a species of ape described in some medieval bestiaries. It is said to always give birth to twins. Of these twins, it hates one, but loves the other. The ape is also described as lively and h ...

Plants described in 1831 {{Cyperaceae-stub