Cow & Calf & Calluna

And it's Flower Friday with thanks to BikerBear!  

I'm not entirely sure if this is the calluna heather.  But, the leaf pattern - blip challenge :) - on the cross-leaved heath has leaves arranged in crosses of four on its stems. Fairly certain this one doesn't and bell heather has, well, bells for flowers.  

Local people used to use the heather to make a broom to sweep their stone floors.  So, the name calluna, seems to originate in latin or possibly Greek, to beautify, sweep clean (but I can't find a translator to prove it!)  There's even an old folk song about the heather brooms called besums.  I'll spare you the YouTube link but here's the chorus

Buy broom buzzems,
Buy them when they're new
Fine heather bred uns
Better never grew.

I was awake far earlier than I'd hoped for this morning so made the most of the early glimpses of sunshine before having a catch up day - which I'm still to begin!