#orobanchaceae

[francescointoppa]

Spigarola campestre (Melampyrum arvense L., Orobanchaceae)

[iridescent-wildlife]

Texas Paintbrush (Castilleja indivisa). Family Orobanchaceae, order Lamiales.

Pinkladies (Oenothera speciosa) in the back. Family Onagraceae, order Myrtales.

Oklahoma, USA. April 2026.

[faguscarolinensis]

Rehmannia elata / Chinese Foxglove at the Sarah P. Duke Gardens at Duke University in Durham, NC

[coffeenuts]

[drhoz]

#2718 - Orobanche minor - Common Broomrape

Bit puzzled that I don't seem to have covered this species before, since it's extremely widespread and a common sight here in Perth, too. I've posted photos of it before, certainly. Possibly the original post got eaten in the Great Tumblr Purge for no good reason.

AKA hellroot, and clover broomrape.

A parasitic plant native to Europe, N. Africa, and Macaronesia, but now found everywhere else that's warm enough. It parasitises plants in the pea and daisy family for the most part, but is known to attack plants in many other famiies as well - in the photo above it's probably sucking the juices from the thistle next to it.

 Flowers red-brown, yellow-brown, yellow, or purple.

One of almost 200 in the genus, and by far the most widespread. It's the only one that's made it to New Zealand, where it has been naturalised since 1870 and is regarded as a weed. Some species are considered serious threats to agriculture, and in some Australian states all species are considered noxious weeds that need to be reported and destroyed.

Chapman Road Scientific Reserve, Aotearoa New Zealand.

[enfaeutchie]

Various broomrapes (Orobanche spp.) from the last week - parasitic plants in the family Orobanchaceae. I didn't sit down and key any of these out but I'd wager at least a fair chunk of them are ivy broomrape (O. hederae). Love these weirdos

[stopandlook]

Scientific Name: Agalinis heterophylla Common Name(s): Prairie false foxglove Family: Orobanchaceae (broomrape); prev. Scrophulariaceae (figwort) Life Cycle: Annual Leaf Retention: N/A Habit: Forb USDA L48 Native Status: Native Location: Collin County, Texas Season(s): Fall

Flower, flower buds, and developing fruits.

[thebashfulbotanist]

Lousewort, probably Pedicularis sylvatica, below the Steall Waterfall in Glen Nevis. Pedicularis are often found in acidic, nutrient-poor areas. They’re able to do this because they’re hemiparasitic and “steal” nutrients from the roots of neighboring plants, while also doing some photosynthesis of their own. 

The common name “lousewort” is derived from a 17th century belief that eating Pedicularis would cause livestock to get lice. This wasn’t entirely silly - as Jim Pojar and Andy MacKinnon point out in their field guide to Pacific Northwest plants, there probably was a correlation between livestock being grazed on nutrient-poor areas where Pedicularis live and the livestock being weak and consequently infested with parasites.