CUCKOO FLOWERS. 
CUCKOO FLOWEKS. 
It is singularly interesting to notice the many different objects of **> 
nature that are associated in the minds of the peasantry with the 
appearance of the cuckoo. In the case of plants, the fact of their 
flowering about the time tiiat the first note of this welcome harbinger 
of spring is heard usually constitutes the basis for their being 
designated Cuckoo flowers ; but not only plants are so associated, for 
there are cuckoo lambs born about the time that the bird appears ; 
the well-known cuckoo spit insects, and the Wryneck {Yunx torquilla) 
called also Cuckoo’s mate, it being alleged that the bird always 
accompanies the cuckoo in its migrations. 
The following plants have come under my notice as being so 
connected, but in recording them I make no pretensions to include all 
that are thus popularly associated with the Cuckoo by the peasantry 
of the Midland Counties, there being probably in other districts, at 
present inaccessible to me, some other plants not noticed. First 
stands the Kagged Kobin or Cuckoo flower {Lychnis Flos-cuculi) which 
has the honour of having the name Latinised, thus bearing evidence in 
support of the application of the term which connects it with the 
Cuckoo. It would appear from Miss Baker’s “ Glossary of Northamp¬ 
tonshire Words and Phrases ” that the appellation is extended to 
Lychnis diurna, and she quotes Clare in support of this assertion— 
“ And oft while scratching through briary woods, 
For tempting Cuckoo flowers and violet buds.” 
(See “ Village Minstrel.”) 
This quotation would apply with equal propriety to Orchis ma.vcM/a,which, 
Mr. Aplin remarks (see p. 117), is termed Cuckoo flower in North 
Oxfordshire, suggesting, further, that it was the plant referred to by 
Clare, instead of Arum maculatum. For its reference to Arum I was also 
indebted to Miss Baker’s Glossary, and not having before heard of its 
application to Orchis, took it for granted that Miss Baker was right, 
without inquiring particularly into the matter; but on more mature 
consideration I feel convinced that Arum is not the plant referred to. 
Probably the difficulty of ascertaining the correct names of the plants 
spoken of by the rustics under these popular titles, without the oppor¬ 
tunity of seeing an actual specimen—the descriptions of them given by 
the rustics being oftentimes very vague—may have led the author into 
some errors, of which this is an example. 
The association of cuckoos with Bedlam Cowslips {Primula elatior) 
would lead one to expect to find the two plants in flower at the same 
time ; therefore, it cannot be Orchis maculata (the Spotted Orchis), 
whose leaves, though more distinctly blotched with purple than those 
of Orchis mascula, are occasionally found unspotted, and moreover, the 
plant does not usually flower until the cowslips have disappeared. The 
“ frecked lip ” and “ hooked nose ” spoken of by Clare would be far 
more plainly discernible in Orchis than in Arum, the spotted base of 
the labellum being the “ frecked lip,” and the curved spur the 
“ hooked nose.” 
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