Field Guide
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Yellow Rattle
Rhinanthus minor
Not yet photographed by the community
Hemi-parasite that suppresses grasses to create wildflower meadows.
Species Profile
Not threatened; widespread and locally common in suitable habitats.
- Lifespan
- Annual; completes life cycle within one growing season (winter to late spring)
- Size & Weight
- 20–45 cm tall; individual flowers 12–15 mm long
- Habitat
- Grasslands, meadows, field margins, and disturbed ground, thriving in nutrient-poor soils and semi-natural grasslands.
- UK Distribution
- Found throughout the UK, more abundant in central and southern England, Wales, and southern Scotland; absent from some northern regions.
- Diet
- Semi-parasitic plant that photosynthesises but also feeds on nutrients from host grass roots.
- Predators
- Slugs, snails, and grazing herbivores; seeds eaten by birds and small rodents.
- Mating Season
- Flowers April to June; seed dispersal July to August.
- Breeding
- Produces numerous small seeds (200–500 per plant) in distinctive inflated seed pods that rattle when dry; self-fertilising and wind-pollinated.
- Behaviour
- As a hemi-parasitic plant, Yellow Rattle weakens grasses by feeding on their roots, making it valuable for meadow management and conservation. Seeds require a period of cold stratification over winter to germinate in spring. It is actively sown by conservationists to suppress competitive grasses.
- •The common name 'Rattle' derives from the papery seed pods that produce a rattling sound when shaken in wind or handled, aiding seed dispersal.
- •Yellow Rattle is a semi-parasite that reduces grass vigour, allowing wildflowers to establish—making it essential for creating and maintaining wildflower meadows.
- •Seeds must undergo winter cold exposure (vernalisation) to break dormancy and will not germinate if sown in warm conditions.
- •The plant is traditionally sown in autumn in meadows as a 'green manure' crop to suppress grasses before wildflower planting.
- •Its bright yellow flowers are visited by bees and other pollinators, though it is primarily self-fertilising and wind-pollinated.
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