152 BRECK’S NEW BOOK OF FLOWERS. 
handsome foliage, with either scarlet, orange, or yellow 
flowers; but I find C. Indica the best for this climate. 
All the species require a rich garden soil. 
CARDAMINE.—Cuckoo FLOWER. 
CAn ancient Greek name for Cress.] 
Cardémine praténsis.—Cuckoo-flower, or Lady’s Smock, 
is a native of England and is a common plant in meadows 
and brook-sides. The Double Cardamine, is the only va- 
riety cultivated or deserving a place in the borders, and 
not very common in this country. “This flower has been 
usually described by the poets as of a silvery whiteness, 
which shows the season they have chosen for their rural 
walks to have been a late one; as, in its natural state, it 
is more or less tinged with purple, but becomes white as 
it fades, by exposure to the heat of the sun. The various 
shades of these flowers, with the little green leaves that en- 
close their unopened buds, have an exceeding pretty effect 
when a quantity of them are collected; and, if kept in 
fresh water, and well supplied, they will survive their 
gathering for a fortnight or more. The height of the 
plant is about one foot. The double varieties are purple 
and white; they are increased by parting the roots in au- 
tumn. They love the shade, and require a rich moist soil. 
It is called ‘ Lady’s Smock,’ from the white sheets of flow- 
ers they display; and ‘Cuckoo-flower,’ because it comes 
at the time with the Cuckoo. Shakespeare’s Cuckoo 
buds are yellow, and supposed to be a species of Ranun- 
culus. Indeed, he ee distinguishes his Cuckoo bud 
from this flower” 
“¢ When daisies pied, and violets blue, 
And Lady’s-smocks all silver white, 
And Cuckoo buds of vellow hue, 
Do paint the meadows with delight.” 
