Rhinanthus minor

Taxonomic note: Sometimes R borealis, which occurs on Skye, is counted as a separate species, but not here. Stace (1996) lists 6 subspecies of R minor, of which R borealis is one, and adds "some populations do not fit into any of them... the subspecies may be better abandoned."

Photo © Carl Farmer
9 Aug 2002 Scorrybreac

Frequent in hay fields and lowland grassland. Occasional in upland grassland and rock ledges

Height c 10-50 cm. Flower length c 12-16 mm

Skye ID: Unmistakable in flower. In fruit has characteristic seed-pods, as shown on left, which rattle when shaken. Plant not purplish like Louseworts.

Other features: Annual parasitic plant. Stems normally black-spotted. Upper lip of flower has 2 purple or whitish teeth at tip.

The roots parasitise the roots of adjacent plants (of no particular kind, as far as I know) and these sometimes respond by gall production, making Yellow Rattle the only Skye flowering plant species that causes galls on other flowering plants.

Photo © Carl Farmer 9 Jun 2003 Penifiler		Photo © Carl Farmer 9 Jun 2003 Penifiler Right-hand flower 14 mm long from join with stem to tip
Lowland plants from a flower-rich neutral-to-alkaline roadside

Skye Flora