Cowslip

Seeing the Primroses in full flower this morning, prompted me to go slightly further than I first intended, and headed up to the Sheepleas with the dogs.

I was looking for a meadow which, when I first saw in flower, took my breath away. It's possibly a couple of weeks too early but the first cowslips are coming up and are beginning to lift their heads. This is one of the very few that are out.

I'll go back in a few days in the hope that the meadow hasn't been ruined! Apart from being a very popular venue for dog walkers, a couple of years ago there were problems with a number of horse riders who were ignoring the SSSI status and were eventually issued with court summons for endangering the plants on a protected site.

Sheepleas means sheep fields. It is the years of grazing on the chalk substrate that originally enabled the plants to prosper. Although the meadow is now mown by rabbits tractors, it's not ideal and the habitat is not as fertile as it used to be. I haven't been up for a while and it was obvious today that the number of plants are in decline. Anyway.. watch this space in a fortnight or so.

Primula veris, has a number of common names. Cowslip comes from the Old English word cuslyppe, meaning cow dung. You can guess another place it grows. My favourite name is St Peter's Keys. The flowers look like keys on an old fashioned key ring and have frequently been used at Easter to represent the keys to the Gates of Heaven.

Cowslip wine was commonly made but habitat destruction, over collecting and farming practices over the past century have seriously effected your chances of finding enough flowers!