Rhinanthus minor L.
Yellow rattle, little yellow rattle
Yellow rattle is circumpolar—native to northern regions of Europe, Russia, western Asia, and northern North America. Yellow rattle is a member of the broomrape family, plants that are hemiparasitic. Instead of obtaining all their energy from sunlight, some of it is stolen from grasses or legumes. (Broomrape derives from the English broom, in this context meaning “a shrubby plant related to vetch,” and Latin rapum, or “tuber.” In essence, it means a plant that parasitizes other plants, such as vetches.)
Plants: Plants are 4–20″ (10–50 cm) in height, with upright, four-angled stems.
Leaves: Opposite, simple leaves are ¾–1 ⨉ ⅛–¼″ (2–3 cm ⨉ 5–8 mm). They are sessile, dentate (toothed), and somewhat rough.
Flowers: ½–9/16″ (1.3–1.5 cm) across. A yellow flower shaped like a hood above with three lobes below emerges from an inflated, roughly pillow-shaped calyx. Flowers appear from May to September.
Fruits: Dry capsules contain loose, rattling seeds, hence the common name.
Habitats: Alpine or subalpine zones, human-disturbed soils such as meadows and fields, mountain summits and plateaus, talus and rocky slopes.
Online References:
6/2/2024 · Curtis Farm Preserve, Freeport, Maine 
6/10/2016 · Monhegan Island, Maine 
6/10/2016 · Monhegan Island, Maine 
6/9/2025 · Curtis Farm Preserve, Harpswell, Maine · ≈ 3½ × 4½″ (9 × 12 cm) 
6/12/2023 · Viles Arboretum, Augusta, Maine 
6/12/2023 · Viles Arboretum, Augusta, Maine 
6/12/2023 · Viles Arboretum, Augusta, Maine 
6/10/2016 · Monhegan Island, Maine 
6/10/2016 · Lobster Cove Trail, Monhegan Island, Maine 
6/9/2016 · Monhegan Island, Maine 
6/9/2025 · Curtis Farm Preserve, Harpswell, Maine · ≈ 5 × 6″ (13 × 16 cm) 
6/2/2024 · Curtis Farm Preserve, Freeport, Maine 
6/9/2025 · Curtis Farm Preserve, Harpswell, Maine · ≈ 6 × 10″ (16 × 24 cm) 
6/9/2025 · Curtis Farm Preserve, Harpswell, Maine · ≈ 4½ × 7″ (12 × 18 cm) 
| Kingdom | Plantae | Plants, but not fungi, lichens, or algae (from Stearn's Botanical Latin) |
| Subkingdom | Tracheobionta | Vascular plants—plants with a “circulatory system” for delivering water and nutrients |
| Division | Magnoliophyta | Flowering plants, also known as angiosperms |
| Class | Magnoliopsida | Dicotyledons—plants with two initial seed leaves |
| Subclass | Asteridae | A large class that encompasses asters |
| Order | Lamiales | Aromatic herbs and shrubs, including lavender, lilac, olive, jasmine, ash, teak, snapdragon, sesame, psyllium, garden sage, mint, basil, and rosemary |
| Family | Orobanchaceae | Broomrape family of parasitic plants |
| Genus | Rhinanthus | From Ancient Greek rhinos, ”nose,“ and anthos, ”flower,“ for the resemblence of flowers to a hooked nose |
| Species | minor | Smaller, lesser |
Rhinanthus minor description by Thomas H. Kent, not updated.
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