Cuckoo Flower, sometimes called Lady's Smock, is medium-sized perennial. The flowers grow loosely together at the top of the stem; they are a pale lilac colour with yellow anthers. The upper leaflets are narrow; the lower ones, coming from the base on long stalks, are rounder. This elegant spring plant grows in wet meadow and marshes in many places. It is sometimes grown as garden plant.

The flowers appear in April and May.

Cuckoo Flower grows in similar conditions in Britain. In Europe a related form grows in drier country.

From the Appletree Press title: Irish Wild Flowers.
Also from Appletree: A Little Book of Garden Flowers .

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