They are found in the cool temperate, alpine, and Arctic regions of the Northern Hemisphere, primarily in the middle latitudes of North America, Europe, and Asia.

Eriophorium species are perennial herbaceous plants that persist by means of underground rhizomes.

Individual flowers have 10 or more smooth perianth bristles that greatly elongate and remain attached to the achene during fruiting.

In cold Arctic regions, the bristles also serve as insulation by trapping solar radiation and thereby increasing the temperature of the reproductive organs.

[3][11] Although the names of some of the species have changed, the number of recognized taxa in genus Eriophorum has remained more-or-less the same since 1994.

[12][13] In the fifth edition of Genera Plantarum published in 1754 (intended to accompany the first edition of Species Plantarum), Linnaeus referenced the prior work of the Italian botanist Pier Antonio Micheli and the French botanist Joseph Pitton de Tournefort.

is regarded as a synonym for Eriophorum L.[19][20] After Guettard, the name Linagrostis was redescribed by numerous botanists, including John Hill (1756), Johann Gottfried Zinn (1757), and Giovanni Antonio Scopoli (1771),[21][22][23] but all three published illegitimate names since Linagrostis Guett.

[40][41][42][43] In 1942, the American agrostologist and botanist Alan Ackerman Beetle placed the species Scirpus criniger A.Gray into genus Eriophorum.

[45] In 1957, the Canadian botanist Louis-Florent-Marcel Raymond placed the species Scirpus scabriculmis Beetle into genus Eriophorum.

[56] Eriophorum species are found in the cool temperate, alpine, and Arctic regions of the Northern Hemisphere,[4][5] primarily in the middle latitudes of North America, Europe, and Asia.

[citation needed] Paper and the wicks of candles have been made of its fiber, and pillows stuffed with the same material.