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Yellow-Rattle

Yellow-Rattle

Rhinanthus minor

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How common: Common

Yellow‑rattle is a small annual meadow plant with bright yellow, hooded flowers. It is a partial parasite that taps the roots of nearby grasses for water and nutrients. You can spot it in open, sunny grassland, field edges and roadsides.

Did you know?

  • When the dry seed pods shake in the wind, the seeds rattle—giving the plant its name.
  • It weakens surrounding grasses by drawing some nutrients from their roots.

About the species

Identification

A slender annual, 20–40 cm tall, with a smooth, usually simple stem. Leaves sit in pairs on the stem, without stalks; they are thin, narrow and have shallow, blunt teeth. Flowers form a short upright cluster at the tip. Each flower is deep yellow, about 1.5 cm long, with a straight tube and a hooded upper lip that shows two tiny bluish teeth; the lower lip is shorter and three‑lobed. Each flower sits in a puffed green‑brown cup with four points. The small pods inside dry to a rattle. Do not confuse with the larger greater yellow‑rattle. Flowers in Finland in June–July.

Plant group

Herbaceous plants

Habitat

meadow

Flowering

Jun–Jul

About the habitat

Open, sunny grasslands, field margins, road verges, dry slopes and pastures. Common throughout Finland except in northern Lapland, where it is rare.

Sources

Photo: Robert Flogaus-Faust, CC BY 4.0 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Rhinanthus minor 2 RF.jpg

Text: Pinkka: BIO-503 Suomen kasvisto ja kasvillisuus - Itämeri: rantaniityt, CC BY 4.0 https://laji.fi/taxon/MX.39663

Text: Wikipedia (Finnish), CC BY-SA 4.0 https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pikkulaukku

See also