Five decades ago this parasitic member of the Figwort family was far more prolific than it is today and I always made sure way back in the 1950s that there was a box-full or two of Yellow Rattle fruit capsules containing the plant' s seeds on the classroom nature-table because of the sound-effects you could make by shaking them! In fact, the country name for the plant used to be “Rattle-Box” (something almost completely forgotten these days it seems), while in certain Southern counties of the UK, the “rattle” was taken as a sign for the start of hay-making….hence the plant’s name of “Hay-Shackle” in places like Somerset.  Like its cousin, Red Rattle, Yellow Rattle is a hemi-parasite and survives by attaching itself to the root systems of various grasses in order to extract water and minerals, while the similarity of the tubular shape formed by the petals to a witch’s hooked nose actually gave rise to the first part of its scientific name of Rhinanthus minor, meaning ‘nose’ and ‘flower’.