Lady's Smock (Cardamine pratensis) flowers

Lady's Smock (Cardamine pratensis) flowers

Description

Title:
Lady's Smock (Cardamine pratensis) flowers
Caption / Description:

Cardamine pratensis (Cuckoo Flower or Lady's Smock), is a flowering plant in the family Brassicaceae, native throughout most of Europe and western Asia.

It is a herbaceous perennial plant growing to 40-60 cm tall, with pinnate leaves 5-12 cm long with 3-15 leaflets, each leaflet about 1 cm long. The flowers are produced on a spike 10-30 cm long, each flower 1-2 cm diameter with four pale pink (rarely white) petals. It grows best close to water.

Cardamine pratensis is grown as an ornamental plant in gardens, and has as a result of cultivation become naturalised in North America. In some European countries the plant is now under threat ( e.g. parts of Germany). It is a food plant for the orange tip butterfly (Anthocharis cardamines) and makes a valuable addition to any garden which aims at attracting wildlife. It was once used as a substitute for Watercress.

In folklore it was said to be sacred to the fairies, and so was unlucky if brought indoors. It was not included in May day garlands for the same reason.

Description from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardamine_pratensis

Tags / Keywords:
  • Biota
  • Life
  • Vitae
  • Eukaryota
  • Plantae
  • Plants
  • Magnoliophyta
  • Flowering Plants
  • Angiosperms
  • Magnoliopsida
  • Dicotyledons
  • Brassicales
  • Brassicaceae
  • Mustard
  • Cruciferae
  • Crucifers
  • Cardamine
  • Bittercress
  • Cardamine pratensis
  • Lady's Smock
  • Cuckoo Flower

Admin

Date Original Photo Taken:
Original File Name:
_MG_9401.CR2
Event:
Rating:
Date this image added/last updated on website:
Original File Dimensions:
2848px x 4272px
File Type:
JPEG
Color Mode:
RGB
Original Image Color Profile:
Adobe RGB (1998)

Location

Location Created:
Sublocation:
City:
Market Harborough
Province/State:
Leicestershire
Country:
United Kingdom
World Region:
Europe
Geo-location:
52.474937150231, -0.95048644600944 View on map

Rights

Copyright Status:
Copyrighted
Licensing Status:
Rights Managed
Available for Editorial Use:
Yes
Available for Commercial Use:
Yes
Copyright Notice:
© 2010 Dave Kennard

Camera Data

Date Digital Resource was created:
Shutter speed:
1200 s
Aperture:
f/5.6
Camera Model:
Canon EOS 450D
ISO:
100
Exposure Compensation:
0
Focal Length:
100mm
Focal Length (35mm equiv.):
Metering Mode:
Multi-segment
Flash:
Off, Did not fire
Exposure Mode:
Manual
White Balance:
Manual
Light Source:
Exposure Program:
Manual

Additional shooting metadata

Lens:
Canon EF 100mm F2.8 Macro USM
Filters used:
Additional Optics used:
Setup:
Handheld

Post Processing

Image Modified:
Software used:
  • Adobe Camera RAW
Post Processing: