Growing up to 3 m high, bogs of  Tussac grow higher as new growth rises out of a bog of dead leaves and is perhaps the best natural shelter the Falklands has to offer. The long narrow green leaves themselves may grow up to 2 m long forming a dense plume of leaves above the bog pedestal which may be hundreds of years old.

Tussac grass is an important for habitat for small birds, insects, owls and seals. Originally tussac fringed the Falklands' coasts but as the islands populated sealers burned it to flush out sea lions, and when domestic livestock arrived the tussac bogs were destroyed and is now it is mainly reduced to the smaller uninhabited islands. Most domestic 'hen runs' will have a few tussac bogs for shelter. Tussac is being replanted by Falkland Conservation in some areas.

Life likely to be found in and around Tussac grass:
	SOUTH AMERICAN SEA LION Otaria flavescens		Black-bellied Storm Petrel Fregetta tropica
	Magellanic Penguin Spheniscus magellanicus		Falklands Diving Petrel
	Short-eared Owl Asio flammeus
	Tussac Bird Cinclodes antarcticus antarcticus		Sea cabbage Senecio candidans
	Grass Wren (Short-billed Marsh Wren) Cistothorus platensis falklandicus		Falklands Strawberry Rubus geoides
	Cobb's Wren (Southern House Wren) Troglodytes aëdon cobbi		Camel Cricket Parudenus falklandicus

Sources include: Falklands Conservation, A Field Guide to the Wildlife of The Falkland Islands and South Georgia - Ian J Strange, Plants of the Falkland Islands - Ali Liddle 2007, The Vascular Flora of the Falkland Islands- D. M. Moore, B.Sc., Ph.D, 1968,

Photographic credits: Terry Spruce

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