EARLY SEDGE 121 



" Chimney-sweeper, all in black, 

 Go to the brook and wash your 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 have 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-topped flower which they call Davie-drap, 



saying: 



" Within the bounds of this I hap 

 My black and bonny Davie drap; 

 Wha is he, the cunning yin 1 , 

 To me my Davie drap will fin'?" 



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 shepherd 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. Luzula campestris, 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, Latour. = C. verna, Chaix) 



The Early Sedge is found in Europe, 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- 

 broke, 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 Islands. 



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. 



