''Cardamine pratensis'', the cuckoo flower, lady's smock, mayflower, or milkmaids, is a

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek words (; 'container, vessel') and (; 'seed'), meaning that the seeds are enclosed with ...

in the family

Brassicaceae Brassicaceae () or (the older but equally valid) Cruciferae () is a medium-sized and economically important Family (biology), family of flowering plants commonly known as the mustards, the crucifers, or the cabbage family. Most are herbaceous pla ...

. It is a perennial herb native to Eurasia.

Description

''Cardamine pratensis'' is a

herbaceous Herbaceous plants are vascular plants that have no persistent woody stems above ground. This broad category of plants includes many perennials, and nearly all annuals and biennials. Definitions of "herb" and "herbaceous" The fourth edition of ...

, hairless,Webb, D.A., Parnell, J. and Doogue, D. ''An Irish Flora'' 1996. Dundalgan Press, Dundalk.

perennial In horticulture, the term perennial ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the year") is used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. It has thus been defined as a plant that lives more than 2 years. The term is also ...

plant growing to tall, with pinnate

leaves A leaf (: leaves) is a principal appendage of the stem of a vascular plant, usually borne laterally above ground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, stem, ...

long with 3–15 leaflets, each leaflet about 1 cm long. The

flower Flowers, also known as blooms and blossoms, are the reproductive structures of flowering plants ( angiosperms). Typically, they are structured in four circular levels, called whorls, around the end of a stalk. These whorls include: calyx, m ...

s are produced on a spike long, each flower 1–2 cm in diameter with four very pale violet-pink (rarely white) petals. The fruit is a seed pod up to . It grows best close to water.

Etymology

The specific name ''pratensis'' is

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

for "from/of the meadow". Its common name ''cuckoo flower'' derives from the formation of the plant's flowers at around the same time as the arrival each spring of the first

cuckoo Cuckoos are birds in the Cuculidae ( ) family, the sole taxon in the order Cuculiformes ( ). The cuckoo family includes the common or European cuckoo, roadrunners, koels, malkohas, couas, coucals, and anis. The coucals and anis are somet ...

s in the British Isles. An alternative 16th century dated tale refers to 'cuckoo spit', which the plant is sometimes covered in, due to a bug called the

froghopper The superfamily Cercopoidea, some members of which are called froghoppers and still others known as spittlebugs, are a group of hemipteran insects in the suborder Auchenorrhyncha. Adults are capable of jumping many times their height and length, ...

and not the cuckoo.

Distribution

The species is widespread in Europe and commonly found throughout the British Isles. Recorded in Ireland from all 40 of the "

vice-counties A vice-county (also spelled vice county) is a geographical division of the British Isles. It is also called biological vice-county as it is used for purposes of biological recording and other scientific data-gathering, or sometimes called a Wat ...

" (a system adopted by

Robert Lloyd Praeger Robert Lloyd Praeger (25 August 1865 – 5 May 1953) was an Irish naturalist, writer and librarian. Biography Early life and education From a Unitarian background, he was born and raised in Holywood, County Down; he had four brothers and a ...

in 1901).

Cultivation

It is grown as an

ornamental plant Ornamental plants or ''garden plants'' are plants that are primarily grown for their beauty but also for qualities such as scent or how they shape physical space. Many flowering plants and garden varieties tend to be specially bred cultivars th ...

in gardens, and has become

naturalised Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-national of a country acquires the nationality of that country after birth. The definition of naturalization by the International Organization for Migration of the ...

in North America as a result of cultivation. In some European countries, including parts of Germany, the plant is now under threat. It is a food plant for ''

Anthocharis cardamines ''Anthocharis cardamines'', the orange tip, is a butterfly in the family Pieridae, which contains about 1,100 species. ''A. cardamines'' is mainly found throughout Europe and temperate Asia (Palearctic). The males feature wings with a signature o ...

'' (the orange-tip butterfly).

Uses

The plant is edible with a peppery taste similar to

watercress Watercress or yellowcress (''Nasturtium officinale'') is a species of aquatic flowering plant in the cabbage family, Brassicaceae. Watercress is a rapidly growing perennial plant native to Eurasia. It is one of the oldest known leaf vegetabl ...

In culture

In folklore it was said to be sacred to the

fairies A fairy (also called fay, fae, fae folk, fey, fair folk, or faerie) is a type of mythical being or legendary creature, generally described as anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic, found in the folklore of multiple European cultures (including Cel ...

, and so was unlucky if brought indoors. It was not included in

May Day May Day is a European festival of ancient origins marking the beginning of summer, usually celebrated on 1 May, around halfway between the Northern Hemisphere's March equinox, spring equinox and midsummer June solstice, solstice. Festivities ma ...

garland A garland is a decorative braid, knot or wreath of flowers, leaves, or other material. Garlands can be worn on the head or around the neck, hung on an inanimate object, or laid in a place of cultural or religious importance. In contemporary times ...

s for the same reason. It is the

county flower In 2002 Plantlife conducted a "County Flowers" public survey to assign flowers to each of the counties of the United Kingdom and the Isle of Man. The results of this campaign designated a single plant species to a "county or metropolitan area" in ...

of the English county of

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Merseyside to the north-west, Greater Manchester to the north-east, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire to the south-east, and Shrop ...

Gallery

File: Blume in Wildbad 07.jpg , ''Cardamine pratensis'' in Bavaria, Germany File:Cuckoo flower Wiltshire.JPG, ''Cardamine pratensis'' growing in Wiltshire, UK Image:Cardamine pratensis.jpg, Details of flowers Image:Cardamine pratensis 10.JPG, Buds of a ''Cardamine pratensis'' File:Illustration Cardamine pratensis0.jpg, Botanical illustration from Otto Wilhelm Thomé Flora von Deutschland, Österreich und der Schweiz 1885, Gera, Germany File:Cardamine pratensis řeřišnice luční 1.jpg, Flowers File:Cardamine pratensis řeřišnice luční 2.jpg, Plants File:Pinksterbloem.jpg, Flowers, pinker variety File: Cardamine pratensis 2.JPG, Seedling

References

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q27490 pratensis Flora of France Flora of Western Asia Flora of Portugal Flora of China Flora of Japan Flora of Korea Flora of Denmark Flora of Ireland Flora of Norway Flora of the United Kingdom Flora of the Czech Republic Flora of Lithuania Flora of Greece Flora of Italy Flora of Latvia Flora of Spain Flora of Greenland Flora of Connecticut Plants described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus Flora without expected TNC conservation status