Yellow rattle

Description:

Tall plant, striking by growing in colonies (at least where I saw it), creating almost a tall carpet of small yellow flowers. 30 to 40 cm in height. Leaves are opposite, simple and serrated, dark green in color. The top of the plant is a light green head or raceme, where the flowers develops in leaf basis. Calix are hairy.

Habitat:

Large colonies growing in meadow bordering the road climbing the Jura mountain.

Notes:

Semi parasitic plant, pumping nutrients from neighboring grasses. Contains an alcaloid, aucubin, which affects the growth rate in herbivores. Long time ago, this substance was also used to control or fight lice in animals. Previously classified in family Scrophulariaceae, it was recently included in family Orobanchaceae. It was difficult to find the exact scientific name for this plant, and even now I'm not sure about it... I found it under Rhinanthus alectorolophus or R. hirsutus (these two seem to be interchangeable), but also under R. minor...