Flutterbies

The cowslips have flowered prolifically by the south east hedge, and there is a solitary flower south of 'Charlie's Hook'. On each wander, I see more wild flowers appearing:

• The common fumitory, a purple spike on the fence side of the bank around the garth. The plant is said to resemble smoke due to the whitish bloom on the leaves, hence fumus terrae, smoke of the earth.
• And the cuckoo flower or lady's smock, in palest mauve, in amongst the new trees on the stream edge of the planting. They are in the brassicaceae, the mustard or cabbage family, which is also known as the cruciferae, an older name meaning "cross-bearing", because the four petals of their flowers form a cross.

At the weekend I saw a couple of male orange-tip butterflies along the stream, and another white butterfly which might have been the female - they don't always come close and stay still for long enough! It might also have been a green-veined white, as both use cuckoo flower as a larval foodplant. But the orange-tip usually emerges in early April, and the white in late April, so I would go for the female orange-tip. There are a couple of peacocks and plentiful tortoiseshells. Peacock adults feed on the cuckoo flower too.