purplish-pink flowers, found about cold, springy places
northward, appear two or three weeks earlier than those of the
white spring cress.\
The MEADOW BITTER-CRESS (or CROSS), LADIES' SMOCK, OR
CUCKOO-FLOWER (C. pratensis), an immigrant from Europe and Asia
now naturalized here north of New Jersey from coast to coast,
lifts its larger and more showy white or purplish-pink flowers,
that stand well out from the stem on slender pedicels, in loose
clusters above watery low-lying ground in April and May.

"Lady-smocks all silver white"

now paint our meadows with delight, as they do Shakespeare's
England; but ours have quite frequently a decided pink tinge. The
light and graceful growth, and the pinnately divided foliage,
give the plant a special charm. In olden times, when it was
counted a valuable remedy in hysteria and epilepsy, Linnaeus gave
it its generic name Cardamine from two Greek words signifying
heart-strengthening.

More bees, flies, butterflies, and other insects visit the
ladies' smock than perhaps any other crucifer found here, since
it has showy flowers and so much nectar the long-persistent
sepals require little pouches to hold it. No wonder this plant
has triumphantly marched around the world, leaving its relatives
that take less pains to woo and work insects far behind in the
race. Owing to a partial revolution of the tall stamens away from
the stigmas, a visitor in sipping nectar must brush off some
pollen on his head or tongue, although in stormy weather, when
the movement of the stamens is incomplete, self-pollination may