A cowslip is a small wild plant that grows in Europe. In spring it holds up bunches of sweet-smelling yellow flowers. It is a cousin of the primrose, and it likes old grassland. The name looks like “cow” plus “slip,” and students sometimes picture a cow falling over — though actually that is not the story. The old second half meant a sticky mess, like dung; the flower was named for the cow-mucky meadows where it grew. Another flower, the oxlip, is named in the same pattern. You will meet cowslip in countryside writing, garden books, and older poems. It is not a plant of Taiwan, so the English name may be new even if you already know other yellow spring flowers.