Yellow Rattle

Common Name: Yellow Rattle

Latin Name: Rhinanthus minor

Ultimate Height: 50 cm

Flower Colour: Yellow

Type: Annual

Soil: Clay, Loam, Sand, Chalk, Acid, Alkaline, Neutral PH

Flowering times: May-August

History, uses and notes:

Often used to create a bright yellow dye, Yellow Rattle's striking bright yellow flowers with white lips are a sight to behold. When you brush through a wildflower meadow at the height of summer and you'll hear the seeds of this flower rattling in their brown pods, this is why it is called Yellow Rattle.

It was once seen as an indicator of poor grassland by farmers, but is now often used to turn improved grassland back to meadow. By feeding off the vigorous grasses, it eventually allows more delicate, traditional species to push their way through.

NB: Yellow Rattle can be poisonous to some livestock. 

Flowering from May to September, Yellow Rattle is on the RHS 'Perfect for Pollinators' list and will certainly help bring #bringthebeesback

Description:

Yellow Rattle has yellow, tube-like flowers protruding from an inflated, green calyx, which appear May to August. It has serrated leaves with heavy, dark veins, which sprout opposite each other all the way up the stem. Its stems have black spots.

Yellow-rattle’s serrated leaves

Yellow Rattle seed pods - Photo by Didier Descouens