CUCKOO-PINT. 77 



VIII. 



CUCKOO-PINT. 



IN the bank which supports the hedge, beside 

 this little hanger on the flank of Black Down, 

 the glossy arrow-headed leaves of the com- 

 mon arum form at this moment beautiful 

 masses of vivid green foliage. ' Cuckoo- 

 pint ' is the pretty poetical old English name 

 for the plant ; but village children know it 

 better by the equally quaint and fanciful title 

 of ' lords and ladies.' The arum is not now 

 in flower : it blossomed much earlier in the 

 season, and its queer clustered fruits are just 

 at present swelling out into rather shapeless 

 little light-green bulbs, preparatory to assum- 

 ing the bright coral-red hue which makes 

 them so conspicuous among the hedgerows 



