Cuckooflower has a rosette of leaves at its base and an upright stem that bears the delicate, small, pale pink or mauve flowers. A sure sign that spring has arrived, the Cuckooflower blooms from April. Look out for its delicate, pale pink flowers in damp meadows and ditches, and on riverbanks.

The Cuckoo Flower produces loose clusters of white flowers, which have four white petals and tend to be rounded. Some flowers have a notch in the petals. The center of these flowers are made up of a light green style and 6 cream-colored stamens. They are related to mustard plants.

Cardamine pratensis, the cuckoo flower, lady’s smock, mayflower, or milkmaids, is a flowering plant in the family Brassicaceae, native throughout most of Europe and Western Asia. The specific name pratensis is Latin for “meadow”.

Cuckooflower, also commonly known as ‘Lady’s-smock’, is a pretty, springtime perennial of damp, grassy places like wet meadows, ditches and riverbanks, as well as roadside verges.

Its pale pink flowers bloom from April to June and are thought to coincide with the arrival of the first Cuckoo – a sure sign that spring has arrived at last.

Cuckooflower has a rosette of leaves at its base and an upright stem that bears the delicate, small, pale pink or mauve flowers. Each flower has four petals, although double-flowered varieties do appear.

We’ll be sharing more about this flower in future.