Yorkshire Fog
Yorkshire Fog
Grass
A soft, woolly, grey-green grass of damp meadows whose flower heads flush pink-purple — and one of the most prolific seeders of any UK grass, shedding up to a quarter of a million seeds a year.
💡 Fun Facts
- This soft, grey-green grass is covered in fine woolly hairs — its Latin name 'lanatus' means 'woolly'.
- Its flower heads flush a pretty pink-purple, like a soft fog drifting over a damp meadow.
- A single plant can scatter up to a quarter of a million seeds in one year.
📅 Through the Year
- Flowering:June to July
- Fruiting:July to September
Name Story
Holcus lanatus
means “the woolly grass”
likely meaningThe second word, ‘woolly’, is certain, but the first word, Holcus, is an old Greek grass-name whose original meaning scholars aren’t sure about — so part of the name stays a little uncertain.
What does its name mean?
- Holcus — an old Greek grass-nameGreek holkos — its original sense is unclear
- lanatus — woollyLatin lana ‘wool’
‘Woolly’ is spot on — the whole plant feels soft and velvety, clothed in fine greyish hairs. The first word is an old Greek name for a grass, and nobody is quite sure what it first meant.