Guide to the UK's parasitic meadow plants

Parasitic plants make up around 1% of all plant species. Many, like these meadow plants, are partial- or hemi-parasites; this means they still photosynthesise to make sugar, but tap into the roots of their host to take water and nutrients. Essentially, they are piggy-backing on the investment their hosts have made in growing an extensive root system. The hemi-parasites can grow without a host but, in low-fertility soils where nutrients are harder to find, they will grow more vigorously with one.

Look out for the following parasitical plants on your spring wanders.

A field guide to parasitic plants in UK grassland

Yellow rattle (Rhinanthus minor)

Close up of yellow rattle flowers — Yellow Rattle (*Rhinanthus Minor*)/Credit: Getty

Rhinanthus Minor. Yellow Rattle. Cockscomb/Credit: Getty

Flowers from May to August in grasslands throughout the UK and has distinctive seed pouches that rattle when dry.

Red bartsia (Odontites vernus)

Slender purple-tinted flower spikes appear from June to September in rough grassy places throughout the UK.

Yellow bartsia (Parentucellia viscosa)

Yellow bartsia spike with several three-petalled flowers — Yellow bartsia is also known as yellow glandweed. It is native to Europe./Credit: Getty

Produces sticky yellow flower-spikes (below) in grassy heaths and verges from June to October in the west of the UK.

Lousewort (Pedicularis sylvatica)

Produces low-growing two-lipped pink flowers from April to July on damp heaths and rough grassland throughout most of the UK.

Common eyebright (Euphrasia nemorosa)

A white, blue and yellow flowered hemi-parasitic plant in the broomrape family (Orobanchaceae)./Credit:Getty — Beautifully delicate, common eyebright has white, blue and yellow flowers and is a hemi-parasitic plant in the broomrape family./Credit:Getty

Grows in grasslands throughout the UK, and the tiny dark-veined flowers with a yellow blotch appear from May to September.

Marsh lousewort (Pedicularis palustris)

Marsh lousewort with dark green leaves resembling a miniature fern and delicate pink-purple flowers — Marsh Lousewort flowering in a dewy meadow./Credit: Getty

Similar to lousewort but prefers wetter grassland, flowering between May and September in the north and west of the UK.

Common cow-wheat (Melampyrum pratense)

Close up of cow wheat which has yellow bell shaped flowers all along one side of a stalk — Macro shot of common cow wheat flowers in bloom./Credit: Getty

Grows on heaths and in scrubby grassland and woods across the UK, with tubular yellow flowers (below) appearing from May through to September.