Yellow rattle was first recorded by John Gerard in 1597 “Christa galli… groweth in drie medows and pastures and is to them a great annoyance”.1.  It is a very unusual plant, related to the wholly parasitic broomrapes.  It has green leaves and stems is photosynthetic, but it is also a root parasite of grasses and vetches from which it derives much of its nutrition. The seed pods when ripe contain loose seeds that rattle when you shake the flower stem, and these were readily distributed when the grass was scythed, but generally hoovered-up by lawnmowers.    Yellow rattle has dozens of local names, penny rattle, rattle-grass, and significantly, poverty-weed in Somerset.2. 
 
The impact of parasitism by yellow rattle is estimated to reduce grassland productivity by between 8 and 73%, most strongly in the most productive sward.  Where it flourishes, the proportion of grasses declines and that of broad-leaved plants increases.3.  For this reason it is strongly recommended that you introduce it if you wish to diversify a lawn by supressing grass competition.  It does not always reseed itself reliably from year to year, so an autumn application of seed is usually necessary to begin with.  While this is great for a biodiverse lawn, it was anathema to an agricultural meadow – as Gerard noted, the plant was hated by farmers.
 
Yellow rattle is liked by pollinators, but is recorded as a foodplant for only a few insects, mostly moths, including the bumblebee mimic the broad-bordered bee hawk-moth Hemaris fuciformis, a superb species but unfortunately very local, and not likely to be seen in gardens.4.
 
 
References
 
1.  Pearman, D. 2017. The Discovery of the Native Flora of Britain and Ireland, A compilation of the first records for 1670 species and aggregates, covering Great Britain, Ireland, The Channel Isles and the Isle of Man. Botanical Society of Britain & Ireland. p340
 
2. Vickery, R. 2019. Vickery’s Folk Flora, An A to Z of the Folklore and Uses of British and Irish Plants. Weidenfeld & Nicolson. London.p 730
 
3.  D.M. Davies, J.D. Graves, C.O. Elias, P.J. Williams (1997) The impact of Rhinanthus spp. on sward productivity and composition: Implications for the restoration of species-rich grasslands.  Biological Conservation 82:87-93. Abstract here 
 
4.  See the Biological Records Centre database 
 
 
Page written and compiled by Steve Head
Yellow rattle Rhinanthus minor  
 
Family - Orobanchaceae Broomrape family
Annual  -  height 20cm, spread 10cm
Flowering May to August
Soil – dry soils, neutral
Sun -  Full sun
 
Yellow rattle Rhinanthus minor  
 
Family - Orobanchaceae Broomrape family
Annual  -  height 20cm, spread 10cm
Flowering May to August
Soil – dry soils, neutral
Sun -  Full sun
 
Yellow rattle was first recorded by John Gerard in 1597 “Christa galli… groweth in drie medows and pastures and is to them a great annoyance”.1.  It is a very unusual plant, related to the wholly parasitic broomrapes.  It has green leaves and stems is photosynthetic, but it is also a root parasite of grasses and vetches from which it derives much of its nutrition. The seed pods when ripe contain loose seeds that rattle when you shake the flower stem, and these were readily distributed when the grass was scythed, but generally hoovered-up by lawnmowers.    Yellow rattle has dozens of local names, penny rattle, rattle-grass, and significantly, poverty-weed in Somerset.2. 
 
The impact of parasitism by yellow rattle is estimated to reduce grassland productivity by between 8 and 73%, most strongly in the most productive sward.  Where it flourishes, the proportion of grasses declines and that of broad-leaved plants increases.3.  For this reason it is strongly recommended that you introduce it if you wish to diversify a lawn by supressing grass competition.  It does not always reseed itself reliably from year to year, so an autumn application of seed is usually necessary to begin with.  While this is great for a biodiverse lawn, it was anathema to an agricultural meadow – as Gerard noted, the plant was hated by farmers.
 
Yellow rattle is liked by pollinators, but is recorded as a foodplant for only a few insects, mostly moths, including the bumblebee mimic the broad-bordered bee hawk-moth Hemaris fuciformis, a superb species but unfortunately very local, and not likely to be seen in gardens.4.
 
 
References
 
1.  Pearman, D. 2017. The Discovery of the Native Flora of Britain and Ireland, A compilation of the first records for 1670 species and aggregates, covering Great Britain, Ireland, The Channel Isles and the Isle of Man. Botanical Society of Britain & Ireland. p340
 
2. Vickery, R. 2019. Vickery’s Folk Flora, An A to Z of the Folklore and Uses of British and Irish Plants. Weidenfeld & Nicolson. London.p 730
 
3.  D.M. Davies, J.D. Graves, C.O. Elias, P.J. Williams (1997) The impact of Rhinanthus spp. on sward productivity and composition: Implications for the restoration of species-rich grasslands.  Biological Conservation 82:87-93. Abstract here 
 
4.  See the Biological Records Centre database 
 
 
Page written and compiled by Steve Head
           Garden Wildplants
        Garden Wildplants