Rhinanthus
Rhinanthus major
rattle-box, rattle-pod, yellow rattle
European yellow rattle
erect, not fleshy, glabrous, hairy on 2 opposite sides.
without black streaks, simple or branched, 15–40(–80) cm.
cauline, opposite;
petiole present or absent;
blade not fleshy to +/- fleshy, not leathery, margins coarsely toothed distally.
blade lanceolate to ovate, (3.5–)5–10 mm wide, margins crenate-serrate.
rhombic-triangular, puberulent, teeth not bristle-tipped, basal teeth scarcely longer than others.
terminal, racemes, +/- secund;
bracts present.
present;
bracteoles absent.
sepals 4, calyx bilaterally symmetric, flattened laterally, ovate to suborbiculate, accrescent in fruit, lobes deltate;
petals 5, corolla yellow or yellowish [bronze to bluish], compressed, strongly bilabiate, narrowly campanulate, abaxial lobes 3, adaxial 2, adaxial lip galeate, ovate, obtuse, entire, with subapical tooth on each side;
stamens 4, didynamous, filaments lanate;
staminode 0;
ovary 2-locular, placentation axile;
stigma capitate.
15–20 mm;
tube slightly curved;
throat closed;
teeth of galea 1.5–2.5 mm.
round-ovate in fruit, 15–20 mm, initially villous, hairs white, partly glabrescent in fruit.
dehiscence loculicidal longitudinally.
8–12 mm.
2–10[+], brown, kidney-shaped, flattened, wings present, absent in some R. major.
2–6, 4–5 mm.
= 11.
Rhinanthus
Rhinanthus major
Species ca. 50 (2 in the flora).
Although the taxonomy of Rhinanthus in the Old World is complex, the taxa found in North America are reasonably distinct. The subapical teeth on the adaxial corolla lip have been described as galea or nipples; the term teeth is used in this account. Leaf measurements are for mid-stem leaves; calyx features are for post-anthesis calyces.
The European species Rhinanthus serotinus (Schönheit ex Halácsy & H. Braun) Oborný has been reported from Maine (E. Hultén and M. Fries 1986); the authors have found no specimens to substantiate this report. If it were to be encountered in North America, it would key to R. major, from which it can be distinguished by having narrowly triangular bracts and glabrous calyces as in R. minor.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
The name Rhinanthus alectorolophus has been applied to R. major by some authors (for example, A. Haines 2011) on the grounds that R. major is an ambiguous name (R. Soó and D. A. Webb 1972). Variants with wingless seeds are found throughout the range of R. major.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
OR
WA
Flora NW
PNW Herbaria
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
