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Cardamine pratensis
Also called Lady's Smock, Cuckooflower, European Field Bittercress, Milk Maids, Meadow Bittercress, Meadow Cress, Pink Cuckoo Flower
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.
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).
The species is widespread in Europe and commonly found throughout the British Isles.
The plant is edible with a peppery taste similar to watercress.
Large Bitter Cress · Seaside bittercress · Slender toothwort · Cardamine barbaraeoides · Alpine bittercress · Brewer's bittercress · Coralroot bittercress · Bulbous bittercress · Milkmaids · Cardamine carrii · Cutleaf toothwort · Constance's bittercress
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Cardamine pratensis by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts are shared under the same licence.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
