''Orobanche uniflora'', commonly known as one-flowered broomrape, one-flowered cancer root, ghost pipe or naked broomrape, is an

annual Annual may refer to: * Annual publication, periodical publications appearing regularly once per year **Yearbook ** Literary annual * Annual plant * Annual report * Annual giving * Annual, Morocco, a settlement in northeastern Morocco * Annuals (b ...

parasitic

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 ...

. It is native to much of North America, where it is a

parasitic plant A parasitic plant is a plant that derives some or all of its nutritional requirements from another living plant. They make up about 1% of angiosperms and are found in almost every biome. All parasitic plants develop a specialized organ called the ...

, tapping nutrients from many other species of plants, including those in the families

Asteraceae The family Asteraceae, alternatively Compositae, consists of over 32,000 known species of flowering plants in over 1,900 genera within the order Asterales. Commonly referred to as the aster, daisy, composite, or sunflower family, Compositae w ...

and

Saxifragaceae Saxifragaceae is a family of herbaceous perennial flowering plants, within the core eudicot order Saxifragales. The taxonomy of the family has been greatly revised and the scope much reduced in the era of molecular phylogenetic analysis. The f ...

and in the genus ''

Sedum ''Sedum'' is a large genus of flowering plants in the family Crassulaceae, members of which are commonly known as stonecrops. The genus has been described as containing up to 600 species, subsequently reduced to 400–500. They are leaf succulen ...

''. The name "orobanche" can be translated to "vetch-strangler" and "uniflora" can be translated to "single-flower".

Description

''Orobanche uniflora'' grows to in height, with one purple-to-white flower with five petals per stem. The corolla is two-lipped, finely fringed with five similar lobes. The main stem is under the ground, with only the

pedicels In botany, a pedicel is a stem that attaches a single flower to the inflorescence. Such inflorescences are described as ''pedicellate''. Description Pedicel refers to a structure connecting a single flower to its inflorescence. In the absenc ...

being seen and each pedicel containing only one flower. The stems are grayish tan. No leaves are on the plant or offshoot from it. It reproduces from its seeds, which are produced from fruit that has two sections. Many seeds are produced from the plant's fruit. The plant is

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 ...

, feeding off of other plants' root systems, often on the

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...

genus ''

'' which are also known as stonecrops. It does not produce

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 ...

, rather gaining its

nutrient A nutrient is a substance used by an organism to survive, grow, and reproduce. The requirement for dietary nutrient intake applies to animals, plants, fungi, and protists. Nutrients can be incorporated into cells for metabolic purposes or excret ...

s, such as

carbohydrate In organic chemistry, a carbohydrate () is a biomolecule consisting of carbon (C), hydrogen (H) and oxygen (O) atoms, usually with a hydrogen–oxygen atom ratio of 2:1 (as in water) and thus with the empirical formula (where ''m'' may or ma ...

s, from other plant species. Due to not producing chlorophyll, the plant does not produce any green portions. It is not agreed upon by

botanists This is a list of botanists who have Wikipedia articles, in alphabetical order by surname. The List of botanists by author abbreviation is mostly a list of plant taxonomists because an author receives a standard abbreviation only when that auth ...

whether the plant's flowers are

pollinated Pollination is the transfer of pollen from an anther of a plant to the stigma of a plant, later enabling fertilisation and the production of seeds, most often by an animal or by wind. Pollinating agents can be animals such as insects, birds, ...

by insects or if they are pollinated by the plant itself. The

life expectancy Life expectancy is a statistical measure of the average time an organism is expected to live, based on the year of its birth, current age, and other demographic factors like sex. The most commonly used measure is life expectancy at birth ...

of the species is unknown. The species closely resembles '' Orobanche fasciculata''. The two can be differentiated by their bracts and number of flowers. The bract looks like a small leaf and is found at the junction of where each flower stalk is attached to the underground stem. ''O. uniflora's'' bracts are hairless while ''O. fasciculata'''s bracts are hairy. The flowers of ''O. uniflora'' have one to three flowers on each stem branch while ''O. fasciculata'' has three to ten flowers per stem branch. ''O. fasciculata'' has flowers that are pinkish to creamy-white, unlike ''O. uniflora'' which is tinged with violet.

Habitat

The plant can be found in woods,

thicket A thicket is a very dense stand of trees or tall shrubs, often dominated by only one or a few species, to the exclusion of all others. They may be formed by species that shed large numbers of highly viable seeds that are able to germinate in the ...

s, and mountains as well as by stream banks, and is widespread in much of North America. Unlike other species in the genus ''Orobanche'', ''Oranbanche uniflora'' is largely a species that can be commonly found in forests. The species has been found surviving in both the sunlight and shaded areas, as well as in a variety of different types of

soil Soil, also commonly referred to as earth or dirt, is a mixture of organic matter, minerals, gases, liquids, and organisms that together support life. Some scientific definitions distinguish ''dirt'' from ''soil'' by restricting the former te ...

. Its

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

is restricted to places where there are plenty of host plants. It might be difficult for this species to survive in an area where its host plants are sparsely found. A specimen is contained within the botany department of the

Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History The National Museum of Natural History is a natural history museum administered by the Smithsonian Institution, located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., United States. It has free admission and is open 364 days a year. In 2021, with 7. ...

and another specimen has been photographed at

Hells Canyon National Recreation Area Hells Canyon National Recreation Area is a United States national recreation area on the borders of the U.S. states of Oregon and Idaho. Managed by the U.S. Forest Service as part of the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest, the recreation area was es ...

. It is considered rare or vulnerable in 17 states and five Canadian provinces. The species was identified as being of Special Concern in

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

in 1984 and was changed to endangered in 2013. When it was originally listed as a Special Concern in Minnesota, only seven populations were known to exist. File:Orobanche uniflora, Vermont.jpg, Orobanche uniflora flowering in a Vermont woodland setting.

References

External links

E-Flora BC

Jepson Manual Treatment

USDA Plants Profile

Photo gallery
{{Taxonbar, from=Q7103704 uniflora Parasitic plants Flora of North America Plants described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus