Desert Broomrape

Orobanche cooperi

 

Orobanche cooperi

Color: Purple

Common name: Desert Broomrape, Cooper's Broom Rape

Latin name: Orobanche cooperi

Family: OROBANCHACEAE

Height: 4-16 inches

Orobanche cooperi

Description: This plant arises from a thick root and a scaly, twisted stem base and produces a thick, clumpy stem. As a parasite taking its nutrients from a host plant, it lacks leaves and chlorophyll. It is dark purple in color and coated with glandular hairs. The inflorescence is an elongated array of several flowers. Each flower is tubular, purple and hairy, and up to about 3 cm long.

Range: Desert

Habitat: Sandy flats, washes, on Asteraceae — weed on tomatoes, Sonoran Desert, in 1960s.

Elevation: < 500 m.

Flowering time: Jan–May

Notes: Orobanche cooperi, a dicot, is a perennial herb (parasitic) that is native to California and is found only slightly beyond California borders. O. cooperi is also classified by the California Department of Food and Agriculture as a Noxious Weed List A: Control action required by state agencies. This plant is found growing attached to the roots of other plants, usually members of the Asteraceae, such as Artemisia, Hymenoclea, Ambrosia and Encelia. This photo was taken on April 6, 2010 in the Cadiz area of San Bernardino County, California.

We have an online wildflower field guide that is designed to help you identify desert wildflowers by color, scientific name, region and common name. The pictures are sized to work on the iPod, iPhone, iPad and similar devices. With your iPod or phone you will easily be able to identify wildflowers while in the desert. Links for downloads are on the bottom of the Wildflower Field Guide page.

Photo tips: Most digital point-and-shoot cameras have a macro function - usually symbolized by the icon of a little flower. When you turn on that function, you allow your camera to get closer to the subject, looking into a flower for example. Or getting up close and personal with a bug. More on desert photography.

Mojave Desert Wildflowers - This book is the standard by which all other wildflower books are measured. The author, Jon Mark Stewart, has combined super photography with concise information. This book has an entire color page for each wildflower covered, with a discussion of the wildflower. 210 pages with 200 color photos. More...

What's Blooming Now - Check the Wildflower Reports

More Wildflowers

 

 
Related DesertUSA Pages

 

Share this page on Facebook:

The Desert Environment
The North American Deserts
Desert Geological Terms

SEARCH THIS SITE


Shop desert store

 

Catnip





 
 
 
Copyright © 1996- DesertUSA.com and Digital West Media, Inc. - -