EARLY SEDGE 12 1 



" Chimney-sweeper, all in black, 

 Go to the brook and wash j'oiir back ; 

 Wash it clean or wash it none. 

 Chimney sweeper, have you done?" 



In the North they are called "ewe-knots". When it appears the 

 ewes are likely to lia\e plenty of milk for the lambs, as it indicates 

 that the new grass is growing. 



Chambers relates that the children of Galloway play at hide-and- 

 seek with a little black-to[)ped llower which they call Davie-drap, 



savnio-; 



^ o 



" Within the buiinds of this I hap 

 My black and bonny Davie drap; 

 Wha is he, the cunnini,'' yin'. 

 To nic my Da\ ic drap will fm'?" 



Peeseweep-grass is applied because it grows where lapwings resort 

 (peesweep). 



•As it is one of the harbingers of spring, and generally making its 



appearance in mild, genial weather, it has originated in the following 



prophetic adage: 



" When the hair beard appear 

 The she[jherd need not fear ". 



It is usually indicative of a dry and not very luxuriant pasture, but 

 when growing in boggy ground of moist and rich soil. 



Essential Specific Characters: — 



308. Luziila caiupcstris, D.C. — Stem short, leaves linear-lanceolate, 

 downy, pilose, flowers in a dense panicle, of 3-4 clusters, anthers longer 

 than the filaments. 



Early Sedge (Carex caryophyllea, Lalour. = C. vcriia, Chaix) 



The Early Sedge is fnund in ELu-(jpe, N. Asia, in the N. Tem- 

 perate Zone, and has been introduced into N. America. It is unknown 

 in Glacial beds. In Great Britain it is absent in N. Devon, Pem- 

 l:)roke, Cardigan, Mid Lanes, Roxburgh, Stirling, Banff; in W. High- 

 lands it only occurs in Main Argyle, Dumbarton, Clyde Islands; but 

 it does not occur in N. Highlands, nor Hebrides in the Northern Isles. 

 Elsewhere it ranges as far N. as the Shetlands, and up to 2300 ft. in 

 the Highlands, as well as in Ireland and the Channel Lslands. 



The Early Sedge is a local but widely dispersed ericetal species 

 which grows on elevated ground, such as upland pastures, where it 

 seeks the highest parts, heaths and moors. It may also be found 



' One. 



