DAME'S VIOLET 15 



Lady Flock, Lady's (^.I(i\c Lady's Smock, Lamb Lakins, Lucv 

 Locket, May I'.lnl'.. May ll..\\cr.' Milk-irl. V:ih^\c, ri-on's I'.yJ, 

 I'ink, Slmcs and Stockiiii^s, Snirll Smock, Wliitsimlidc, ("lillillowcr, 



Spink. 



Or can our flowers at ten hours licll 

 'riie gowan or the spiiik i-mcII? 



The name Apple-pie rcii-rs lo the odinir of the lloucrs and yonn^' 

 shoots. ll IS lalk'd I>rcatLand-Milk iVom the tiisiom of taking; krcad 

 and milk tor hrcaktast at the .season wlicn ihc Cuckoo Pint is in 

 bloom. It is called Cuckoo Spit in allusion to iho.se flowers which 

 are attacked b\ an . /////V, and thus exhibit the "spit". Children 

 regard it as unlucky to pluck suth specimens, thinking- the cuckoo 

 has s|)it on them. Because "sile" means "strain " it is calletl Milk 

 Sile, and the flower is thought to be in shape like a milk-strainer. 



It was one of the flowers used in bridal bouquets when in season. 

 Hut it was carefully a\-oided for May festivals. 



Shakespeare uses the name "Lady's Smock" in Loves Labour's 

 Lost: — 



A\'hcn daisies pied and violets blue, 



And Lady's Smocks all silver white, 

 And cuckoo-buds of yellow hue 



Do paint the meadows wilh delight. 

 The cuckoo then on every tree 

 Mocks married men, for thus sings he, 

 Cuckoo! 



The cuckoo flower was used as a salad, but is rather bitter. 



Lormerly it was held to be antiscorbutic, and used in stomach 

 disorders, in spasmodic complaints, convulsive asthma, St. \'itus's 

 dance, and epilepsy. 



If inserted in a May garland, it was held unlucky and destroyed. 



EssKNTi.M, Si'ixiFic Ch.\racters: — 



27. Cardantnie prateiisis, L. — Flowering stem erect, radical leaves 

 rounded, dentate, upper linear-lanceolate, entire, pinnate, [)etals white 

 or lilac, three times as long as the sepals, pods erect, st)le short. 



Dame's Violet ( llesperis matronalis, L.) 



There is no instance (jI the seeds being found in Clacial or earlier 

 deposits. The [)Iant is met with to-day in Europe and temperate 

 Asia. This plant is always an escape from gardens, and is not even 

 regarded as naturalized, though in some districts it seems to have 



