( 263 ) 
laft. The Latin name is Cardamine 
pratenjts y and the Englifh, Ladies- 
fmock. This reminds you of Shake- 
fpear's long in Loves Labour loj}> 
When daizies pied and violets blue, 
And Lady-fmocks all filver white, 
And Cuckow buds of yellow hue 
Do paint the meadows with delight. 
You will find thefe lines quoted by Curtis 
in the Flora Londinenfis, and a very neat 
plate of the flower; but he makes no com- 
ment on the lines, which feem to want 
fome explanation. I have never yet met 
with any fkoer-yolnte Lady-fmocks: they 
have always a confiderable tinge of red or 
purple. As to the Cuckow-buds of yellow hue, 
it is difficult to afcertain the flower meant 
by the poet. It evidently was not the Lycb- 
nis-fofcuctdi, which we call Cuckpw-flower; 
for that is red, as you will fee: we (hall pro- 
bably meet with it in the next meadow. 
I fancy thefe Cuckoo-buds of yellow hue, 
were the common Butter-cups that fo de- 
lightfully paint this luxuriant meadow. 
There is indeed no other flower that may 
with eqaul propriety t>e faid to paint the 
meadows yellow : befides, the flower of this 
R 4 Ra- 
