Cardamine pratensis

Cuckoo Bittercress

Brassicaceae Edible: Flowers, Leaves, Spice, Vegetable 45,760 iNaturalist observations

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Summary

Cardamine pratensis, the cuckoo flower, lady's smock, mayflower, or milkmaids, is a flowering plant in the family Brassicaceae. It is a perennial herb native to Eurasia.

Description

A cabbage family herb that keeps growing from year to year. It grows up to 55 cm tall. It is like Common bittercress but larger. The stems are smooth, straight and hollow. The leaves are cress like. They are compound and occur in rings near the base. The leaves at the base have long leaf stalks. The leaves on the stem have sort stalks and are more narrow. The flowers are pink and white. They are 1.2-2 cm wide. They have 4 petals. They are in dense clusters at the top of the plant. The fruit are long pods. They open by spirally coiled valves.

Edible Uses

Leaves and young shoots can be eaten raw or cooked. They are rich in vitamins and minerals, especially vitamin C, though they have a bitter, pungent flavour. Harvested in spring, they taste much like watercress, and in small quantities make a very acceptable addition to salads. The flowers and flower buds are eaten raw and have a pungent, cress-like flavour — the white flowers are attractive, pleasant to nibble, and add a delicious note to salads.

Traditional Uses

Young leaves are cooked and eaten. They have the taste of watercress. The flowers can be eaten as a salad ingredient.

This uses section is brief — help expand it

Medicinal Uses

Cuckoo flower is seldom used in herbalism, though an infusion of the leaves has been used to treat indigestion and promote appetite. The leaves and the flowering plant are antirheumatic, antiscorbutic, antispasmodic, carminative, digestive, diuretic, and stimulant. They are used internally for chronic skin complaints, asthma, and hysteria. The plant is harvested in spring and early summer and is best used fresh.

Distribution

It is a temperate plant. It grows in damp locations near stream banks. It is often in a partly shaded position. It is a temperate plant. It is resistant to frost but sensitive to drought. It suits hardiness zones 4-9.

Where It Grows

Alaska, Australia, Balkans, Bosnia, Britain, Bulgaria, Canada, Central Asia, China, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Faroe Islands, Europe*, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, India, Ireland, Japan, Kazakhstan, Korea, Luxembourg, Mongolia, New Zealand, North America*, Norway, Russia, Scandinavia, Siberia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Tasmania, Tibet, Turkey, Türkiye, USA,

Cultivation

Succeeds in most soils so long as they are moist or wet. Prefers a cool damp soil. Succeeds in full sun or partial shade. Cuckoo flower was at one time much used as a spring salad plant and was often sold in local markets. It has, however, fallen out of favour and is scarcely used at present. A polymorphic species. A very ornamental plant, non-invasive and well suited to the wild garden though it may require protection from wood pigeons who eat out the young buds in spring. It grows well in the spring meadow. A food plant for the orange tip butterfly. There is at least one named variety, selected for its ornamental value. 'Flore Pleno' is a double flowered form.

Propagation

Sow seed outdoors in a shady seedbed in April, then plant out in autumn or spring. Divide in spring or autumn. The plant produces young plantlets at the base of its leaflets; once large enough, these can be separated from the main plant and grown on individually.

Other Uses

Attracts wildlife.

Other Information

It is a commercially cultivated vegetable. It is also foraged and supplied to restaurants in Sweden.

Notes

There are about 160 Cardamine species. They are mostly in damp places in temperate regions.

Also Known As

Apple Pie, Berro de prado, Cao dian sui mi qi, Cuckoo Flower, Divlji hren, Engkarse, Lady’s Smock, Lividna gorva, Meadow cress, Travniška penuša

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