Yellow Rattle
Yellow Rattle (Rhinanthus minor), Cornton, Stirling, May 20 2026
Toothed lanceolate leaves, with grooved venation or sculpturing dorsally, sprout directly from the upright, angular, black-speckled stem; the plant becomes even more distinctive when the tubular yellow flower appears (see below) protruding from the mouth of the inflated calyx that supports the flower.
Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland (BSBI) – Plant Atlas
A small cluster of Yellow Rattle (Rhinanthus minor) not yet in flower, Cornton, Stirling, May 20 2026
A very limited number of Yellow Rattle (Rhinanthus minor) were in flower at this time of year, Cornton, Stirling, May 20 2026
Yellow Rattle (Rhinanthus minor), in flower and not in flower, Cornton, Stirling, May 20 2026
In some areas Yellow Rattle (Rhinanthus minor) is locally abundant, Cornton, Stirling, May 20 2026
A plant well known for being an obligate partial-parasite of grasses (and legumes such as white clover). Beneath the soil it’s roots can attach to the roots of a neighbouring grass and siphon off nutrients and solutes from the host plant. It is this clandestine activity which makes it a popular choice for supporting the creation of wildflower meadows as it weakens grasses allowing other plants to compete. It does well in grassland that is damp and infertile becoming, “locally abundant in neutral or mineral-rich” locations (BSBI).