Yellow Rattle, Common Milkwort, Forget-Me-Not

Yellow Rattle (Rhinanthus minor)

YELLOW RATTLE (Rhinanthus minor) Clusters of yellow rattle spread across the dune grasslands of Bull Island, Dublin at a height of about 30 cm. They are conspicuous firstly for their lovely yellow flowers and then later for their brownish papery seed rattles. Yellow rattle has a sturdy black spotted stem and paired dark green leaves which are sharply toothed and 10-15 mm long. There is a lighter green triangular toothed bract under each flower on the loose spike. The calyx is a pale green tube, veined and partially inflated, with the bright yellow flower projecting at the tip. Two joined petals form the upper lip of the flower and the shorter lower lip is 3-lobed. Seeds form in a rounded capsule surrounded by the increasingly inflated calyx which turns red-brown. When the seeds are ripe, they break loose and form the rattle inside the calyx. This flower is becoming increasingly rare in hedgerows but is very plentiful on the island. Flowers: April-August

By kind permission of Dorothy Forde

Yellow Rattle (Rhinanthus minor)
By kind permission of Dorothy Forde

Yellow Rattle (Rhinanthus minor)

YELLOW RATTLE (Rhinanthus minor) Clusters of yellow rattle spread across the dune grasslands of Bull Island, Dublin at a height of about 30 cm. They are conspicuous firstly for their lovely yellow flowers and then later for their brownish papery seed rattles. Yellow rattle has a sturdy black spotted stem and paired dark green leaves which are sharply toothed and 10-15 mm long. There is a lighter green triangular toothed bract under each flower on the loose spike. The calyx is a pale green tube, veined and partially inflated, with the bright yellow flower projecting at the tip. Two joined petals form the upper lip of the flower and the shorter lower lip is 3-lobed. Seeds form in a rounded capsule surrounded by the increasingly inflated calyx which turns red-brown. When the seeds are ripe, they break loose and form the rattle inside the calyx. This flower is becoming increasingly rare in hedgerows but is very plentiful on the island. Flowers: April-August

By kind permission of Dorothy Forde

Enlarge image

YELLOW RATTLE (Rhinanthus minor)

Clusters of yellow rattle spread across the dune grasslands at a height of about 30 cm. They are conspicuous firstly for their lovely yellow flowers and then later for their brownish papery seed rattles.

Yellow rattle has a sturdy black spotted stem and paired dark green leaves which are sharply toothed and 10-15 mm long. There is a lighter green triangular toothed bract under each flower on the loose spike. The calyx is a pale green tube, veined and partially inflated, with the bright yellow flower projecting at the tip. This flower is becoming increasingly rare in hedgerows but is very plentiful on the island.

Two joined petals form the upper lip of the flower and the shorter lower lip is 3-lobed.

Seeds form in a rounded capsule surrounded by the increasingly inflated calyx, which turns red-brown. When the seeds are ripe, they break loose and form the rattle inside the calyx.

This flower is becoming increasingly rare in hedgerows but is very plentiful on the island.

Flowers: April-August

Common Milkwort (Polygala vulgaris)

COMMON MILKWORT (Polygala vulgaris) This short branching plant looks like a blue and green carpet spread across the short dune grasses of Bull Island, Dublin. The many woody stems angle upwards and have smooth glossy green leaves, oval at base and spear-shaped higher up the stem. Sepals of milkwort are distinctive: there is an outer set of three small green sepals and then an inner set of two wide flat deeply blue ones. These are rather like a pair of wings enclosing the flower tube of three fused blue petals. The centre petal is fringed and whitish at the tip and protrudes beyond the blue sepal “wings.” The fruit is a two celled heart-shaped flattened capsule hidden by the sepals. Flowers: May-August

By kind permission of Dorothy Forde

Common Milkwort (Polygala vulgaris)
By kind permission of Dorothy Forde

Common Milkwort (Polygala vulgaris)

COMMON MILKWORT (Polygala vulgaris) This short branching plant looks like a blue and green carpet spread across the short dune grasses of Bull Island, Dublin. The many woody stems angle upwards and have smooth glossy green leaves, oval at base and spear-shaped higher up the stem. Sepals of milkwort are distinctive: there is an outer set of three small green sepals and then an inner set of two wide flat deeply blue ones. These are rather like a pair of wings enclosing the flower tube of three fused blue petals. The centre petal is fringed and whitish at the tip and protrudes beyond the blue sepal “wings.” The fruit is a two celled heart-shaped flattened capsule hidden by the sepals. Flowers: May-August

By kind permission of Dorothy Forde

Enlarge image

COMMON MILKWORT (Polygala vulgaris)

This short branching plant looks like a blue and green carpet spread across the short dune grasses. The many woody stems angle upwards and have smooth glossy green leaves, oval at base and spear-shaped higher up the stem.

Sepals of milkwort are distinctive: there is an outer set of three small green sepals and then an inner set of two wide flat deeply blue ones. These are rather like a pair of wings enclosing the flower tube of three fused blue petals.

The centre petal is fringed and whitish at the tip and protrudes beyond the blue sepal "wings." The fruit is a two celled heart-shaped flattened capsule hidden by the sepals.

Flowers: May-August

Forget-me-not (Myosotis arvensis)

FORGET-ME-NOT (Myosotis arvensis) Field forget-me-not can be found in the grasses on the drier dune sides of Bull Island, Dublin. It has an erect hairy branching stem from 15-35 cm high, rising from a rosette of shortly stalked oblong leaves that are dully pointed and smooth-edged. There are a few unstalked alternate leaves on the stem. The unopened flower stems are tightly coiled at the tip, but straighten out as the flowers open to five pale blue petals with a yellow centre. The petal lobes are concave and fused into a tube at the base, with a 5-pointed calyx covered in hooked hairs. The dark brown nut-like fruit splits into four sections, each holding an unreleased seed. Flowers: May-September

By kind permission of Dorothy Forde

Forget-me-not (Myosotis arvensis)
By kind permission of Dorothy Forde

Forget-me-not (Myosotis arvensis)

FORGET-ME-NOT (Myosotis arvensis) Field forget-me-not can be found in the grasses on the drier dune sides of Bull Island, Dublin. It has an erect hairy branching stem from 15-35 cm high, rising from a rosette of shortly stalked oblong leaves that are dully pointed and smooth-edged. There are a few unstalked alternate leaves on the stem. The unopened flower stems are tightly coiled at the tip, but straighten out as the flowers open to five pale blue petals with a yellow centre. The petal lobes are concave and fused into a tube at the base, with a 5-pointed calyx covered in hooked hairs. The dark brown nut-like fruit splits into four sections, each holding an unreleased seed. Flowers: May-September

By kind permission of Dorothy Forde

Enlarge image

FORGET-ME-NOT (Myosotis arvensis)

Field forget-me-not can be found in the grasses on the drier dune sides. It has an erect hairy branching stem from 15-35 cm high, rising from a rosette of shortly stalked oblong leaves that are dully pointed and smooth-edged. There are a few unstalked alternate leaves on the stem.

The unopened flower stems are tightly coiled at the tip, but straighten out as the flowers open to five pale blue petals with a yellow centre. The petal lobes are concave and fused into a tube at the base, with a 5-pointed calyx covered in hooked hairs.

The dark brown nut-like fruit splits into four sections, each holding an unreleased seed.

Flowers: May-September