Cardamine pratensis - Cuckoo Flower

Lady's Smock and Milkmaids are two other common names for this spring flower of meadows and riverbanks. The flowers droop and close up at night or during heavy rain.

This flower, like its namesake the cuckoo itself, comes in April, but May and June are the months when cuckooflowers bloom in greatest profusion.

The meadow froghopper is attracted to the sap of these plants, and its larvae form frothy blobs on the stems; some people call this cuckoo spit.