Ivydene Gardens Box to Crowberry Wild Flower Families Gallery:
Broomrape Family

Click on Underlined Text in:-

Common Name to view that Plant Description Page
Botanical Name to link to Plant or Seed Supplier
Flowering Months to view photos
Habitat to view further Natural Habitat details and Botanical Society of the British Isles Distribution Map

Broomrape Family:-

Broomrapes are "unbranched downy parasites on the roots of other plants, and so devoid of green colouring matter, varying widely both in size, from 3 inches to 3 feet, and in colour - yellowish, brownish, reddish, mauve or bluish; persisting rigid and dark brown when dead. They have no proper leaves, but fleshy pointed scales up the stems which are usually swollen at the base, and usually a single similar scale (bract) under each flower, not always readily distinguishable from the deeply divided calyx. Flowers in a spike, the same colour as the plant, relatively large, the corolla 2-lipped, with 4 stamens and 1 style curved down at the tip into 2 stigma-lobes. Seeds egg-shaped, enclosed in a dead flower; seeds dust-like.

Most Broomrapes grow virtually on only one species (occasionally genus or family) of plant, but Common Broomrape grows freely on many different hosts. All the other species are uncommon or rare, and seldom found off

• Broom (Peaflower Family),
• Gorse (Peaflower Family),
• Wild Thyme (Thyme Family),
• White Bedstraw (Bedstraw Family),
• Greater Knapweed (Daisy Family),
• Thistles (Daisy Family) or
• Yarrow (Daisy Family).

Thus in practice the readiest method of identifying a Broomrape is to name the host first and then confirm the particular characters of the parasite. It is not, however, always easy to be sure which plant is being paratised." from Collins Pocket Guide to Wild Flowers by David McClintock and R.S.R. Fitter assisted by Francis Rose - ISBN 0 00 219363 9 - Eleventh Impression 1978

Broomrape Family plant table with its Common Name - Botanical Name. Flowering Months Range. Habitat with link to that Wild Flower Gallery:-

Common Name

Botanical Name

Flowering Months

Habitat

Carrot Broomrape

Orobanche maritima

June-July

Coastal; parasitic on Daucus carota (Wild Carrot) and Daucus gingidium and very rarely on Plantago coronopus (Buckshorn Plantain) and Ononis repens (Rest-Harrow) (A rare plant in Kent, Dorset, Devon, Cornwall; Channel Islands)

Flower on Sea Holly from Sandwich in Kent

Flowers on Sea Holly from East Kent on 11 July

Foliage

Form on Sea Holly from Sandwich in Kent

Clove-Scented Broomrape

(Bedstraw Broomrape)

Orobanche caryophyllacea

June-July

A root parasite mainly of Galium mollugo and Gallium verum, probably perennial and sometimes long-lived. It occurs in stabilised dune grassland, and in scrub and hedge banks on chalk downs and undercliffs. Most populations are small, but some of those on dunes are of a considerable size. Lowland.

Flower

Flowers from Kent on 27 June

Foliage

Form

Common Broomrape

Orobanche minor

June-September

Grassland, Gardens and Fields (locally frequent in grassy places and a pest among clover crops, mainly in Southern England and Eastern England. It grows on many different hosts, including garden plants; one microspecies (Orobanche hederae) is not infrequent on Ivy (Ivy Family) in the Western England; rare ones are restricted to Ox-tongues (Daisy Family) and Hawkesbeards (Daisy Family) (Orobanche picridis); and Wild Carrot (Umbellifer Family) and Sea Holly (Umbellifer Family) (Orobanche maritima). This usually annual root parasite occurs on a wide range of hosts, but mainly on species of Fabaceae and Asteraceae. Var. maritima is native on sand dunes and cliffs on the south coast (Stewart et al., 1994), with Daucus carota subsp. gummifer as its main host. Var. minor, the most frequent of several poorly differentiated varieties, is probably alien. It is usually found on cultivated land (often introduced with grass seed) and other disturbed ground. Lowland.

Flower from East Kent on 21 June

Flowers

Foliage

Form on Sea Holly in Kent on 27 June

Great Broomrape

(Yarrow Broomrape)

Orobanche rapum-genistae

June-July

It grows on acid soils, usually on Broom (Peaflower Family), less often on Gorse (Peaflower Family), very rarely on other shrubby peaflowers (Peaflower Family). An annual or possibly perennial herb, parasitic on Achillea millefolium. It typically occurs on dry, somewhat basic soils in cliff-top grassland and on roadsides and grassy banks, usually near the sea. More rarely, it occurs in disturbed artificial habitats. Flowers can reappear after decades of absence, suggesting that the seeds are long-lived or that plants can persist without flowering for many years. Lowland.

Flower from Hollingbourne in Kent

Flowers from East Kent on 21 June

Foliage at base of plant from Hollingbourne in Kent

Form from East Kent on 21 June

Ivy Broomrape

Orobanche hederae

June-July

An annual or perennial parasite which grows on the roots of Hedera helix, especially subsp. hibernica, and, rarely, on other cultivated Araliaceae. Its habitat is that of its host and includes coastal cliffs, open rocky woodland, quarries, hedge banks and other similar habitats. Lowland.

Flower on 16 July

Flowers on 16 July

Foliage

Form on Ivy on 16 July

Knapweed Broomrape

Orobanche elatior

June-July

Apparently perennial, this species is almost exclusively parasitic upon Centaurea scabiosa, and is mainly found in chalk and limestone grassland. It may also form substantial populations in man-made habitats such as road verges, railway banks and quarries. Lowland.

Flower

Flowers

Foliage

Form from North Downs in Kent on 6 July

Oxtongue Broomrape

Orobanche picridis

(Orobanche loricata, Orobanche artemisiae-campestris)

June-July

In Grassland on Picris (Ox-tongue)and Crepis (Hawksbeards) species and especially on Picris hieracioides (Hawkweed Ox-Tongue). An annual or perennial occurring mainly on the ledges and fine calcareous debris of coastal chalk cliffs where it parasitises species of Asteraceae, especially Picris hieracioides. Lowland.

Flower on Hawkweed in Kent on 11 July

Flowers on Hawkweed in Kent on 11 July

Foliage

Form

Purple Toothwort

Lathraea clandestina

April-May

A root parasite mainly found on species of Alnus, Salix and Populus. It usually occurs in damp, shaded places in open woodland, coppices and along hedgerows, and especially near stream and river margins where dispersal may be effected by flood water. Lowland.

Flower

Flowers from Hawkhurst in Kent

Foliage

Form on Salix roots from Borough Green in Kent on 14 May

Thyme Broomrape

Orobanche alba

June-July

An annual, or possibly perennial, root parasite of Thymus polytrichus. Its principal habitat is base-rich rocky coastal slopes, but it also occurs inland on stabilised scree below limestone outcrops in N. England. Generally lowland, but reaching c. 490 m at Nappa Scar, Wensleydale (N.W. Yorks.).

Flower from Kynance Cove on 19 May

Flowers from County Clare

Foliage from Poulsallagh in County Clare on 19 June

Form from Poulsallagh in County Clare on 19 June

Toothwort

Lathraea squamaria

April-May

An annual or perennial herb, parasitic on the roots of a range of woody plants, especially Corylus, Fraxinus and Ulmus glabra. Its typical habitats include deciduous woodland, hedgerows, and river and stream banks. Generally lowland, but reaching 350 m at Alston (Cumberland).

Flower from Chatham in Kent

Flowers from Scords Wood in Kent on 20 April

Foliage

Form from Farnborough on 21 April

Yarrow Broomrape

Orobanche purpurea

June-August

An annual or possibly perennial herb, parasitic on Achillea millefolium. It typically occurs on dry, somewhat basic soils in cliff-top grassland and on roadsides and grassy banks, usually near the sea. More rarely, it occurs in disturbed artificial habitats. Flowers can reappear after decades of absence, suggesting that the seeds are long-lived or that plants can persist without flowering for many years. Lowland.

Flower from Kent on 10 August

Flowers from Kent on 10 August

Foliage

Form from Kent on 10 August

Applegate Gardens provides garden design plans and 3D Garden Design software to improve your garden:-

Step 1 - a Garden Design Package

They have 150 'ready-made' garden design plans, which are suitable for 286 garden plot sizes, or

you can design your own with their 3D Garden Design Software or

they can create a bespoke design to suit your requirements.

Step 2 Landscaping your garden

'How to" Guides or 'Find a Landscaper' Directory.

Step 3 Planting Design

3 types of design packages to suit your style and budget ... software, free plans or bespoke design?

Step 4 Gardening Advice - how to plant and care for it.

'How to' Guides and what to do each month in your garden.

OK, let's change places at the next corner

Biodiversity Reference on Orobanche Broomrapes with photos.