Yes this is a picture of Yellow Rattle. I have used the little quote, ‘Hark…..’ with reference to happenings in Chichester Cathedral during 17th century English Civil War. Sir Arthur Hazelrig, Baronet was Second-in-Command to Captain William Waller. As Parliamentarians they were keen to break into the Cathedral Close, which of course was staunchly Royalist. Hazelrig’s first mission was to discover the Cathedral treasure. It was secreted somewhere safe ….. but as is so often the case, someone was happy to spill the beans for a penny or two! Hazelrig, on discovering the silver plate by banging on panelling in the Choirschool, is said to have shouted, ‘Hark it rattles, it rattles…’
Yellow Rattle is an important wildflower to introduce into an area being recolonised by native species. It is a hemisparasite in that it fixes its roots on to the roots of grass and extracts the water and minerals that it needs and in doing so suppresses the regrowth of grass.
As the yellow flowers start to die, a silvery seed pod forms and in wind the seed can be heard rattling around inside. At the right time the wind blows the seeds from the pod, ready for germination the following spring. Hence the need, when trying to establish new yellow rattle, to allow the seeds to fall on the ground and be left on the cold ground over winter, the more bare soil showing, the better. There is some fear that prodigious sowing of yellow rattle will make it become a parasite in itself but it is fairly simple to cut the exisiting flowers before they set seed.
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