Some similarities to : There are three sub-species of Yellow Rattle, differentiating between them is best left to experts with more patience.

Slight resemblance to : A canary clambering out of an eggshell, with its' mouth agape.

Uniquely identifiable characteristics: Apart from much rarer Greater Yellow Rattle, which looks very similar, there are no other plants that have the same jizz as Yellow Rattle.

Distinguishing Feature : looks like a canary emerging from its' eggshell with mouth agape.

This is a  Hemi-parasitic plant, meaning that it relies on obtaining some of its' nutrients from the roots of nearby plants. The flowers themselves have a beaked appearance that resembles those of Red Bartsia which is another hemi-parasite but the flowers of Yellow Rattle are larger.

One of the effects of its parasitic nature is that it reduces the abundance of grasses by suppressing their growth.

Yellow Rattle derives its' name from the seeds which rattle around in their pods when ripe. It is highly variable in several characteristics and displays ecotypic variation; that is variation due to the ecology of its immediate surroundings.

There are seven sub-species of Yellow Rattle, those shown here could be any number of them.