''Orobanche'', commonly known as broomrape, is a genus of over 200 species of small
parasitic
Parasitism is a close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives on or inside another organism, the host, causing it some harm, and is adapted structurally to this way of life. The entomologist E. O. Wilson has c ...
herbaceous plant
Herbaceous plants are vascular plants that have no persistent woody stems above ground. This broad category of plants includes many perennials, and nearly all annuals and biennials.
Definitions of "herb" and "herbaceous"
The fourth edition of t ...
s, mostly native to the
temperate
In geography, the temperate climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes (23.5° to 66.5° N/S of Equator), which span between the tropics and the polar regions of Earth. These zones generally have wider temperature ranges throughout t ...
Northern Hemisphere. It is the
type genus
In biological taxonomy, the type genus is the genus which defines a biological family and the root of the family name.
Zoological nomenclature
According to the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, "The name-bearing type of a nominal f ...
of the
broomrape family Orobanchaceae.
Description
Broomrapes are generally small, only tall depending on species. They are best recognized by the yellow- to straw-coloured stems completely lacking
chlorophyll
Chlorophyll (also chlorophyl) is any of several related green pigments found in cyanobacteria and in the chloroplasts of algae and plants. Its name is derived from the Greek words , ("pale green") and , ("leaf"). Chlorophyll allow plants to a ...
, bearing yellow, white, or blue
snapdragon
''Antirrhinum'' is a genus of plants commonly known as dragon flowers, snapdragons and dog flower because of the flowers' fancied resemblance to the face of a dragon that opens and closes its mouth when laterally squeezed. They are native to r ...
-like flowers. The flower shoots are scaly, with a dense terminal spike of 10-20 flowers in most species, although single in
one-flowered broomrape (''Orobanche uniflora''). The leaves are merely triangular scales. The seeds are minute, tan or brown, blackening with age. These plants generally flower from late winter to late spring. When they are not flowering, no part of the plants is visible above the surface of the soil.
Parasitism
As they have no chlorophyll, the broomrapes 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. Broomrape seedlings put out a root-like growth, which attaches to the roots of nearby hosts. Once attached to a host, the broomrape robs its host of water and nutrients.
Some species are only able to parasitise a single plant species, and they are often named after the plant they parasitise, such as
ivy broomrape
''Orobanche hederae'', the ivy broomrape, is, like other members of the genus ''Orobanche'', a parasitic plant without chlorophyll, and thus totally dependent on its host, which is ivy. It grows to , with stems in shades of brown and purple, some ...
(''O. hederae'') being restricted to parasitising
ivy
''Hedera'', commonly called ivy (plural ivies), is a genus of 12–15 species of evergreen climbing or ground-creeping woody plants in the family Araliaceae, native to western, central and southern Europe, Macaronesia, northwestern Africa and ...
. Others can infect several genera, such as the
lesser broomrape ''O. minor'', which lives on
clover
Clover or trefoil are common names for plants of the genus ''Trifolium'' (from Latin ''tres'' 'three' + ''folium'' 'leaf'), consisting of about 300 species of flowering plants in the legume or pea family Fabaceae originating in Europe. The genus ...
and other related
.
Branched broomrape ''Orobanche ramosa'', native to central and southwestern Europe but widely naturalised elsewhere, is considered a major threat to crops in some areas. Plants that it targets are
tomato
The tomato is the edible berry of the plant ''Solanum lycopersicum'', commonly known as the tomato plant. The species originated in western South America, Mexico, and Central America. The Mexican Nahuatl word gave rise to the Spanish word ...
,
eggplant
Eggplant ( US, Canada), aubergine ( UK, Ireland) or brinjal (Indian subcontinent, Singapore, Malaysia, South Africa) is a plant species in the nightshade family Solanaceae. ''Solanum melongena'' is grown worldwide for its edible fruit.
Mos ...
,
potato
The potato is a starchy food, a tuber of the plant ''Solanum tuberosum'' and is a root vegetable native to the Americas. The plant is a perennial in the nightshade family Solanaceae.
Wild potato species can be found from the southern Unit ...
,
cabbage
Cabbage, comprising several cultivars of ''Brassica oleracea'', is a leafy green, red (purple), or white (pale green) biennial plant grown as an annual vegetable crop for its dense-leaved heads. It is descended from the wild cabbage ( ''B.&nb ...
,
coleus
''Coleus'' is a genus of annual or perennial herbs or shrubs, sometimes succulent, sometimes with a fleshy or tuberous rootstock, found in the Old World tropics and subtropics. The relationship among the genera ''Coleus'', '' Solenostemon'' and ...
,
bell pepper
The bell pepper (also known as paprika, sweet pepper, pepper, or capsicum ) is the fruit of plants in the Grossum Group of the species ''Capsicum annuum''. Cultivars of the plant produce fruits in different colors, including red, yellow, orange ...
,
sunflower
The common sunflower (''Helianthus annuus'') is a large annual forb of the genus ''Helianthus'' grown as a crop for its edible oily seeds. Apart from cooking oil production, it is also used as livestock forage (as a meal or a silage plant), as ...
,
celery
Celery (''Apium graveolens'') is a marshland plant in the family Apiaceae that has been cultivated as a vegetable since antiquity. Celery has a long fibrous stalk tapering into leaves. Depending on location and cultivar, either its stalks, lea ...
, and
bean
A bean is the seed of several plants in the family Fabaceae, which are used as vegetables for human or animal food. They can be cooked in many different ways, including boiling, frying, and baking, and are used in many traditional dishes th ...
s. In heavily infested areas, branched broomrape can cause total crop failure.
The bean broomrape ''
Orobanche crenata
''Orobanche crenata'' is a species of broomrape, commonly known as bean broomrape. It is a common parasite of the faba bean, ''Vicia faba''. It is native to the Mediterranean basin in Europe and North Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, and Western A ...
'', which targets the
fava bean
''Vicia faba'', commonly known as the broad bean, fava bean, or faba bean, is a species of vetch, a flowering plant in the pea and bean family Fabaceae. It is widely cultivated as a crop for human consumption, and also as a cover crop. Var ...
, has stems that are gathered and eaten in the region of
Apulia
it, Pugliese
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, in southern
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
, where they are given the name of .
[Luard, E. ''European peasant cookery'', Grub Street, 2004, p.380]
Etymology
The
generic name ''Orobanche'' comes from the Greek ( "
bitter vetch Bitter vetch is a common name for several plants and may refer to:
* ''Vicia ervilia'', called bitter vetch or ervil, an ancient grain legume crop of the Mediterranean region.
*'' Vicia orobus'', called wood-bitter vetch, a legume found in Atlantic ...
") + ( (I) "strangle").
The common name "broomrape" comes from the English "broom" + Latin ('tuber').
Selected species
Note that this list includes names of more recently described species that may, under further
taxonomic
Taxonomy is the practice and science of categorization or classification.
A taxonomy (or taxonomical classification) is a scheme of classification, especially a hierarchical classification, in which things are organized into groups or types. ...
scrutiny, prove to be
synonym
A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are all ...
s of a single species. Also, some species formerly included in this genus have been referred to ''
Conopholis
''Conopholis'' is a small genus of flowering plants in the family Orobanchaceae
Orobanchaceae, the broomrapes, is a family of mostly parasitic plants of the order Lamiales, with about 90 genera and more than 2000 species. Many of these gen ...
''.
: List sources :
References
External links
Control of Branched Broomrape: A Literature Review
{{Taxonbar, from=Q157302
Orobanchaceae genera
Parasitic plants