Family: črnobinovke (Scrophulariaceae)
Bloom time: May–September
Size: 10–30 cm
Habitat: meadows
Lesser yellow-rattle (Rhinanthus minor) is a tall annual with a bare stem, bare bracts of the flowers and a naked calyx. The floral bracts are toothed, but the teeth are not elongated into a lip. The corolla tube of the bright yellow flower is straight. The blue or whitish tooth on the upper corolla lip is rounded, 0.2 to 0.7 mm long.
Lesser yellow-rattle grows on comparatively fertile and humus-rich soils. It prefers sunny locations on moist soils on an acidic substrate. With the exception of the extreme northwest part and densely forested areas, it is widespread and common throughout Slovenia.
Fresh lesser yellow-rattle is poisonous to mammals, but the toxic substance degrades during drying.
For species of this genus there is a high degree of variability, which is called pseudo-seasonal polymorphism. This is manifested mainly in varying degree of branching (spring-flowering plants are unbranched, autumn-flowering ones are abundantly branched), as well as in flowering time and the different altitudes at which they occur (short stature).
