hemp broomrape, rabo de lobo

Description:

It is a parasitic herbaceous plant. It is best recognized by its yellow- to straw-coloured stems completely lacking chlorophyll, bearing blue snapdragon-like flowers. The leaves are merely triangular scales. The plant produces many slender, erect stems from a thick root. The yellowish stems grow 10 to 60 centimeters tall and are coated in glandular hairs. The broomrape is parasitic on other plants, draining nutrients from their roots, and it lacks leaves and chlorophyll. The inflorescence bears several flowers, each in a yellowish calyx of sepals and with a tubular white and blue to purple corolla.

Habitat:

Spotted at mediterranean forrest between Holm paks ans gom rockroses at Parque Nacional de Monfragüe

Notes:

These plants generally flower from late winter to late spring. When they are not flowering, no part of these plants is visible above the surface of the soil. As they have no chlorophyll, they are totally dependent on other plants for nutrients. Broomrape seeds remain dormant in the soil, often for many years, until stimulated to germinate by certain compounds produced by living plant roots. Orobanche ramosa, native to central and southwestern Europe but widely naturalised elsewhere, is considered a major threat to crops in some areas. Plants that are parasitized are tomato, eggplant, potato, cabbage, coleus, bell pepper, sunflower, celery, and beans. In heavily infested areas, branched broomrape can cause total crop failure.