Cuckoo Flower

Cuckoo Flower, has pale lilac or mauve flowers with yellow anthers. It has a rosette of leaves at the base and a hairless upright stem.

The Cuckoo Flower gets it’s name from the fact it generally comes into bloom around the time the cuckoo starts to call. A pretty, springtime perennial, it can be seen from April to June in damp grasslands, wet meadows, pond margins and in ditches and on riverbanks. It is often seen on roadsides.

In parts of Devon, the double-flowered form and the hose-in-hose form, where one normal bloom grows through the centre of another are a fairly common sight.

The young leaves of the Cuckoo Flower have a peppery taste and can be used as a substitute for cress.

A common plant throughout Britain.