Cuckoo Flower Folklore

Pisces is the sign said to control the weather and by inference the fate of sailors.

Cuckoo flower folklore. The romans believed that when the love goddess venus and the vain cupid who inspired her jealously by falling in love with psyche were chased by typhon they ended up in the sky. And curly haired fair headed maids sweet was the sound of their singing from a 15th or 16th century irish poem in kenneth jackson s early celtic nature poetry. The cuckoo call is associated with seasonal change hardy 1879. It heralds spring and farmers have since ancient times used the call of the cuckoo as a means of determining when to sow specific crops lehikoinen et al.

It is part of the brassicaceae family and is native throughout most of europe and western asia. Buckinghamshire milton keynes autumn foraging courses. To find out what your county s flower is click here. Its common name cuckoo flower refers to the arrival of the flowers at the same time as the cuckoo begins to sing.

Because of this they didn t include the flower in may day garlands. This was a popular belief here as cuckooflowers grew abundantly in the close in stradbrook and grass snakes were also found in this field bratton wiltshire january 2007. Cardiff bute park foraging courses. 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 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. Cheshire marbury country park foraging courses. Cuckooflowers never taken indoors by my grandmother they bring sickness taunton somerset april 1994. Cuckoo flower cardamine pratensis is a herbaceous early spring perennial with delicate lilac or violet tinted flowers with obvious dark violet veins and yellow anthers on a sturdy stem varying in size to around 40cm long seen from april to june.

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 cuckoo flower sometimes spelt cuckooflower can be found in moist or wet habitats including meadows damp grasslands roadsides ditches and river banks. The leaves are a basal rosette with 8 pairs of oval leaflets. Back to hedgerow guide.

Cuckoo flower in legend according to certain european folklore it was said that cuckoo flower was sacred to the fairies and was thus unlucky to bring indoors. 2004 refer to data collected by carl von linné and his students more than 200 years ago.