AMONG THE WILD FLOWERS. 4I 
dark-coloured branches are yet leafless. The 
pretty pink-blossomed Almond-tree, Amzyg- 
dalus, is of this Order; so also is the Wespzlus, 
whose clouds of bloom resemble a fall of snow 
lying in sunshine, and covering the shrubs. 
We have among the very early visitors the 
Cuckoo-flower, or Lady’s Smock, Cardamzne 
pratensis, of Nat. Ord. CruciFer#, and Linn. 
Cl. XV., Zetradynamia. Its pale lilac flowers, 
so abundant in damp ground, are frequently 
double, and look very handsome in large 
clusters. There is another species, less com- 
mon, in wet meadows, C. amara, with purple 
anthers, and white flowers. Two less striking 
ones, but common on damp walls, are C. Sy/va- 
tia and C. Afzrsuta, the latter with only 
4 stamens instead of 6. The flowers of these 
last two species are small and inconspicuous. 
