What is the folklore of the cuckoo flower?
In Old English folklore it was said to be divine to fairies, and was bad fortune if taken indoors. It generally comes into bloom around the time the cuckoo starts to call, hence the name. The plant has had a long cultural significance. In folk tradition it was said to be sacred to the fairies and was therefore thought to be a bad omen to bring the plant indoors. It was used for its medicinal properties when made into a tea to help with appetite and digestive ailments as well as even treating scurvy.
What is another name for a cuckoo flower?
There are a vast number of common names including Our Lady’s smock, milkmaids, fairy flower, May flower and coco plant. In parts of Devon, flore pleno (the double-flowered) form and ‘hose-in-hose’ form (where one normal bloom grows through the centre of another) are fairly common. 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.