Cardamine pratensis, the cuckoo flower, lady's smock, mayflower, or milkmaids, is a flowering plant in the family Brassicaceae. It is a perennial herb native to Eurasia.
Description Cardamine pratensis is a herbaceous, hairless,Webb, D.A., Parnell, J. and Doogue, D. An Irish Flora 1996. Dundalgan Press, Dundalk. perennial plant growing to tall, with pinnate leaves long with 3–15 leaflets, each leaflet about 1 cm long. The flowers are produced on a spike long, each flower 1–2 cm in diameter with four very pale violet-pink (rarely white) petals. and 6 stamens. The fruit is a seed pod up to . It grows best close to water.
Etymology The specific name pratensis is Latin 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 cuckoos 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 and not the cuckoo.
Distribution The species is widespread in Europe and commonly found throughout the British Isles.Clapham, A.R., Tutin, T.G. and Warburg, E.F. 1968. Excursion Flora of the British Isles. Cambridge University Press.
Recorded in Ireland from all 40 of the "vice-counties" (a system adopted by Robert Lloyd Praeger in 1901).Scannell, M.J.P and Synnott, D.M. 1972. Census Catalogue of the Flora of Ireland. Dublin
Cultivation It is grown as an ornamental plant in gardens, and has become naturalised 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 (the orange-tip butterfly).
Uses The plant is edible with a peppery taste similar to watercress.
In culture In folklore it was said to be sacred to the fairies, and so was unlucky if brought indoors. It was not included in May Day garlands for the same reason.Howard, Michael. Traditional Folk Remedies, (Century, 1987); p
It is the county flower of both the English county of Cheshire and of the Welsh county of Brecknockshire.
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