Cowslip

Cowslip (Primula veris; see PRIMROSE), a common native of pastures in England and many other parts of Europe, although rare in Scotland, a delicate and modest little flower, a universal favourite, both for its beauty and its fragrance. It differs from the common primrose conspicuously in having umbels of flowers on a scape; it is supposed to be the original of the garden polyanthus. Darwin holds the common oxlip to be a cross between the cowslip and the common primrose. Its bells were long supposed to be the haunt of fairies, and the name of Fairy Cups is still given to them in some parts of England. The flowers are sometimes fermented with sugar to make cowslip wine, which is not unpalatable. It was once a favourite domestic soporific. The leaves are by some used as a salad and pot-herb, and also as food for the silkworm before those of the mulberry have expanded. The American cowslip (sometimes also called Shooting-star) is Dodecatheon Meadia, a very handsome spring flower. This and other species are also well known in cultivation.