PARASITIC PLANTS 



269 



tures, and in such cases 

 is very harmful, useful 

 plants being crowded 

 out or robbed of their 

 food supplies. Its pres- 

 ence in quantity also 

 reduces the value of 

 hay. The plant is not 

 liked by stock, and 

 some people believe 

 that it imparts a bad 

 taste to butter made 

 from the milk of cows 

 grazing on infested pas- 

 tures. When infested 

 grass land is broken up 

 Yellow Rattle may ap- 

 pear in the first arable 

 crop, and possibly the 

 seeds may find their 

 way into the granary 

 with grain. Henslow 

 writes 1 : " If the seeds 

 are ground up with the 

 corn they impart a 

 violet-brown colour to 

 the flour. This is due 

 to a property called 

 Rhinanthme" It has 

 been said that they 

 similarly give an un- 

 pleasant taste to the 

 flour. 



Yellow Rattle is usually regarded as a weed of poor 



1 Rev. Professor G. Henslow, Poisonous Plants in Field and Garden. 



FIG. 74. Yellow Rattle (Rhinanth^s Crista- 

 galli L.), nat. size. 



