Glyceria fluitans
Glyceria fluitans , known as floating sweet-grass and water mannagrass, is a species of perennial grass in the genus Glyceria native to Europe, the Mediterranean region and Western Asia and occurring in wet areas such as ditches, riverbanks and ponds.
It has a creeping rootstock, a thick stem which rises to one metre. The leaves are long, narrow and pale green, rough on both sides, often folded at the keel which lies on the surface of the water.
The species epithet fluitans is Latin for "floating".History
Before the 19th century, the grains were widely harvested in Central Europe and Sweden, and traded as far as England. It was cooked and eaten as gruel.Glyceria fluitans is a component of purple moor grass and rush pastures, a type of Biodiversity Action Plan habitat in the UK. This habitat occurs on poorly drained neutral and acidic soils of the lowlands and upland fringe. It is found in the South West of England, especially in Devon.Gallery
