Common Name: BROOMRAPE FAMILY
Habit: Annual, perennial herb, shrub; often glandular; root-parasites, roots modified into absorptive structures. Stem: generally round in ×-section. Leaf: generally simple, generally alternate, reduced to +- fleshy scales in non-green plants lacking chlorophyll; stipules generally 0. Inflorescence: spike to panicle, generally bracted, or flowers 1--2 in axils. Flower: bisexual; calyx lobes 0--5; corolla generally strongly bilateral, generally 2-lipped (upper lip generally 2-lobed, lower lip generally 3-lobed), abaxial lobes outside other lobes in bud; stamens epipetalous, 4 in 2 pairs (sometimes 1 pair sterile), additional staminode 0(1), anther sacs unequal; ovary superior, chambers 1--2, placentas 2--4, parietal, style 1, stigma lobes 0 or 2. Fruit: capsule, generally +- ovoid, loculicidal, valves 2--4. Seed: many, small, angled; surface smooth or netted.
Genera In Family: +- 100 genera, 2060 species: worldwide, especially northern temperate and Africa. Note: High yield losses in many crops caused by Orobanche and Phelipanche species in Africa, Mediterranean, Middle East, and eastern Europe. Taxa of Orobanche in TJM2 treated here in Aphyllon and Phelipanche.
eFlora Treatment Author: Margriet Wetherwax, except as noted
Scientific Editor: Robert W. Patterson, Bruce G. Baldwin.

Habit: Annual, green to yellow-brown or +- purple; generally ascending-branched. Leaf: alternate or +- basal, sessile, +- linear, distal finely divided. Inflorescence: spike and/or flowers solitary in axils; bracts generally leaf-like. Flower: calyx +- equally 4-lobed; corolla tube generally slender, upper lip folded lengthwise, tip of upper 2 corolla lobes open, opening directed forward, forming a beak, lower lip deeply 3-pouched, 3-toothed, throat abruptly generally indented forming a fold proximal to lower lip; stamens 4, anther sac 1 per stamen, generally included; stigma generally slightly enlarged, entire to slightly 2-lobed. Seed: 20--80, 0.8--1.2 mm, ovoid, attached at base, dark brown; coat netted, generally tight-fitting. Chromosomes: 2n=22.
Etymology: (Greek: 3 bladders, from lower lip pouches) Note: Hybrids common. Related to Castilleja, Orthocarpus; isolated reproductively.
eFlora Treatment Author: Margriet Wetherwax, T I. Chuang & Lawrence R. Heckard
Reference: Chuang & Heckard 1991 Syst Bot 16:644--666
Unabridged Reference: Hong 1996 Novon 6:372--374

Habit: Plant 10--60 cm, green- to yellow-brown, generally glabrous. Leaf: 20--80 mm, 5--9-lobed. Inflorescence: 5--20 cm, dense distally; bracts 8--18 mm, 3--5-lobed, lobes lanceolate. Flower: calyx 5--10 mm, divided +- 1/3; corolla 12--22 mm, yellow or white, tube >> calyx, densely puberulent, beak +- yellow, +- 1 mm > lower lip, pouches 2--4 mm deep, margins purple-dotted. Fruit: 6--9 mm. Seed: 30--50, dark brown.