Leaf
Liliane Roubaudi, Tela Botanica · CC BY-SA 2.0
Cuckooflower
Cardamine pratensis L.
Also known as: Lady's smock, Milkmaids
Family: Brassicaceae
15 to 40 cm tall
Damp meadows, gardens, banks, moist soils
Flowering: April – June
Full sun
Part shade
Hardy to -25°C
❓ How do you recognise this plant?
Its leaves have a slightly peppery taste similar to watercress, hence one of its popular names.
🍃 Leaves
Compound, with rounded leaflets in a basal rosette, narrower on the stem
🌸 Flowers
Small pale lilac to white flowers in a loose raceme
🍎 Fruits
Long slender siliques
🪵 Bark
Perennial herbaceous plant, with upright or ascending stems.
🗺️ Distribution
Europe, temperate Asia; very common in damp meadows in France, with a characteristic spring flowering.
🐝 Value for pollinators
Early lilac flowers, food plant of the orange-tip butterfly caterpillar, important for the first pollinators of spring.
✂️ Horticultural uses
Wildflower meadows, pond edges, naturalistic gardens; little grown in conventional ornamental borders.
⚠️ Possible toxicity
Young leaves sometimes eaten as a condiment (peppery flavour similar to watercress) in some traditions; never eat a wild plant without certain identification.
🌿 Other Brassicaceae to discover
ℹ️ Educational profile — do not use it to judge whether a plant is edible or safe.
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