I know these gorgeous wildflowers as Cowslips but they have a wealth of other names, including Hey-flowers, Peggles, Paigles, Culverkeys and Bunch of keys, according to the entry in my Flora Britannica. Perhaps you know other local names for them.
One thing I didn’t know until today is that the name Cowslip is a euphemism for ‘cow-slop’ or cow pat because these lovely blooms often grow best in fields that have been well ‘fertilised’ by cows.
p.s. My Facebook friend George has very kindly corrected my flower identification: ‘The first and last photos are false oxlips rather than true cowslips, these are hybrids between cowslips and primroses and have slightly bigger, paler and more open flowers.’ I must pay more attention next time I’m looking at wildflowers!
Sheila Breslin said:
They were always peggles to me as a child. Maybe someone can enlighten me on the difference between celandines and buttercups.
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sconzani said:
I wrote about The Lovely Lesser Celandine here: https://earthstar.blog/2016/02/24/the-lovely-lesser-celandine/ and I posted about the three species of buttercup that are most common in my area in 171/366 Buttercups https://earthstar.blog/2020/06/19/171-366-buttercups/
Hope that helps – otherwise, google. 🙂
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map195 said:
beautiful flower & great post
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sconzani said:
Thanks.
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Toffeeapple said:
Well now, you have taught me even more – I had always wondered why they were called Cowlsips. Not heard of the other name though.
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sconzani said:
My ‘Flora Britannica’ is a mine of information. 🙂
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