A note on the digestibility of Molinia coerulea

Abstract

Although the usefulness of the flying bent (Molinia coerulea) as a grazing plant is admitted by all hill shepherds and by those technical workers who are interested in moorland swards, the amount of precise information available concerning its feeding value and composition is very scanty. Since the work of Kinch (1884) done more than 60 years ago, and involving no more than a single analysis, very little attention has been given to this plant. Evans (1927) studied Molinia as a component of bog hay, and found it to be a very good source of protein, but to contain less ash than certain other moorland species, e.g. common bent, rushes, and sheep's fescue.