Cuckooflower - Cardamine pratensis

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    Alt Name
    Lady's Smock and as Cuckoo Flower
    Description

    Medium height, hairless plant with erect stems. Basal leaves in a rosette, pinnate with a large end leaflet. Upper leaves with numerous narrow leaflets. Flowers pale lilac, rarely white 12 to 18 mm notched petals and yellow anthers.

    Identification difficulty
    Habitat

    Damp pasture, marshes, stream and pond margins.

    When to see it

    April to June.

    Life History

    Perennial.

    UK Status

    Common throughout Britain.

    VC55 Status

    Common in Leicestershire and Rutland. In the 1979 Flora survey of Leicestershire it was found in 463 of the 617 tetrads.

    In the current Checklist (Jeeves, 2011) it is listed as Native, locally frequent

    • David Nicholls
      Lea Meadows
      16 April 2014
    • Lostash
      Enderby Road (Fields)
      24 April 2011
    • HAPeacock
      The Orchards
      09 May 2013
    • David Gould
      Aylestone Meadows, Leicester.
      26 April 2015
    • David Gould
      Aylestone Meadows, Leicester.
      18 April 2015
    • Graham Calow
      Witherley
      27 May 2015
      basal leaf

    Leicestershire & Rutland Map

    MAP KEY:

    Yellow squares = NBN records (all known data)
    Coloured circles = NatureSpot records: 2020+ | 2015-2019 | pre-2015

    UK Map