Root tapering, fibrous, of a somewhat brownish colour, slightly 
acrid. Stems from 1 to 2 feet or more high, upright, somewhat an- 
gular and grooved, leafy, rough with small bristly, closely deflexed 
Hairs ; often sending forth leafy branches from the bottom ; the 
upper part clammy and brownish. Stem-leaves opposite, connate 
(united at the base), spear-shaped, keeled, nearly smooth. Root- 
leaves tapering into footstalks. Panicle terminal, forked, upright, 
clammy, with a pair of broad membranous, pointed bracteas at 
each subdivision. Calyx 10-angled, of a purplish colour. Corolla 
large and handsome, rose-coloured, sometimes white. Petals 
deeply 4-cleft, the 2 outer segments the shortest ; the claw (the 
narrow part of the petal which is inclosed within the calyx) with 
a pair of sharp, red, upright teeth, at the upper part. These teeth 
constitute what is commonly called the crown (corona) of the 
corolla. Capsule (figs. 4 & 6.) roundish egg-shaped, of 1 cell, 
with 5 marginal teeth, which finally become reflexed. Seeds some- 
what kidney-shaped, rugged, of a brownish colour. 
There is a variety of this species with a white, and another with 
a very double or full flower. The last is a very handsome plant, 
and on that account is frequently cultivated in gardens, where it is 
highly deserving a place. Both varieties are sometimes met with 
wild. 1 have observed the white one in a lane leading out of the 
Abingdon road to Bagley Wood, near the second milestone from 
Oxford ; and in July, 1831, I found the double-flowered variety 
in a meadow about half a mile from Rugby, in Warwickshire, near 
the footpath leading from the West Leys to Lawford. — Mr. Wood- 
ward is said to have found the same variety near Bungay in 
Suffolk. 
This plant has a variety of names in English ; as Meadow Pink, 
Wild Williams, Ragged Robin, Feathered Wild Campion, Marsh 
Gilliflowers, Crow-flower, Cuckoo-flower, &c. 
“ The agreement between the blowing of flowers, and the pe- 
riodical return of birds of passage,” says Mr. Curtis, in his 
excellent Flora Londinensis, “ has been attended to from the 
earliest ages : before the return of the seasons was exactly ascer- 
tained by Astronomy, these observations were of great consequence 
in pointing out stated times for the purposes of Agriculture ; and 
still, in many a cottage, the birds of passage, and their correspond- 
ing flowers, assist in regulating, 
‘ The short, and simple Annals of the Poor.’ 
“ For this reason, no doubt, we have several other plants that, in 
different places, go by the name of Cuckow-flower. Gerarde 
says, Carddminc pratensis ( common Ladies' Smock ) is the true 
Cuckow-flower. Shakspeare’s Cuckow-buds are of ‘ yellow hue,’ 
and probably Ranunculus, or Crow-foot. By some, the Orchis, 
Arum, and Oxalis, or Wood-sorrel, are all called after the Cuckow.” 
Some interesting observations respecting the coincidence of the 
flowering of particular plants, and the arrival of certain birds of 
passage, may be seen in Stillingfleet’s “ Tracts relating to 
Natural History,” &c. 4th edition, p. 148. ; and Loudon’s Mag. 
of Nat. Hist. v. iii. p. 17. 
