freshly budded bracken
A seasonal word (kigo) for spring, referring to young bracken shoots just emerging from the ground. Often used in haiku and traditional poetry.
See also: 蕨
When the young bracken shoots appear, I feel that spring has come to the mountains.
In haiku, 'sawarabi' is often used as a spring seasonal word.
Kana spelling is sometimes used in poetry or explanatory contexts.
Compound of 早 (sa-, 'early') and 蕨 (warabi, 'bracken'). The initial 'sa-' is an old prefix meaning 'early' or 'young', seen in other seasonal words like 早苗 (sanae).