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Species Image Gallery (opens in a new window) |
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| THE BROOMRAPE FAMILY | |||||||||
| The broomrapes are herbs that are parasitic on the roots of other plants. Because they are parasitic, they do not need to produce energy by photosynthesis so they lack chlorophyll and are not green in colour. The stems are yellow to brown or purple and are covered in glands or hairs. The leaves are scale-like and are white or brown. The flowers are solitary or in small clusters. The flowers have two to five sepals, and five fused, white to purple petals. The stamens are inserted on the petals and are in two rows of two. The fruit is a two-valved capsule. | |||||||||
| NAKED BROOMRAPE | |||||||||
| LATIN NAME: Orobanche uniflora | |||||||||
| WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE? | |||||||||
| Naked broomrape grows to 20 cm tall from bundled, fleshy roots. The stem has one to five white or brown scale-like leaves and is very short. The flowers are solitary on long stalks and have sticky or glandular hairs. The flower has five, 3-nerved sepals with lobes that are longer than the tube. The petals are white, purplish, or yellowish with two yellow bearded folds in the throat. The stamens have white anthers. The ovary is inferior. The fruit is a capsule that releases numerous seeds. | |||||||||
| WHERE DOES IT GROW? | |||||||||
| Naked broomrape grows in willow thickets and mudflats. | |||||||||
| WHERE IS IT FOUND IN SASKATCHEWAN? | |||||||||
| This plant is found in southwestern Saskatchewan in the Cypress Upland ecoregion. | |||||||||
| WHY IS IT RARE? | |||||||||
| Naked broomrape is endangered because it is extremely rare and very regionally limited in Saskatchewan. This species is almost always locally sparse. Possible threats have been identified. | |||||||||
| HOW TO IDENTIFY NAKED BROOMRAPE | |||||||||
| * Is the flower solitary? * Are the plants lacking chlorophyll? * Are the flowers white, purplish, or yellowish with two bearded folds? * Did you find in southwestern Saskatchewan? | |||||||||
| If you answered yes to all of these questions, you may have found naked broomrape! | |||||||||
