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Orobanchaceae

(Family)

Overview

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Orobanchaceae, the broomrape family, is a family of flowering plants of the order Lamiales, with about 90 genera and more than 2000 species. Many of these genera were formerly included in the family Scrophulariaceae sensu lato. Together they are a monophyletic group, forming a distinct family.

This is a cosmopolitan family, found mainly in temperate Eurasia, North America, South America, parts of Australia, New Zealand and tropical Africa.

The Orobanchaceae are annual herbs or perennial herbs or shrubs, and all (except Lindenbergia and Rehmannia) are parasitic on the roots of other plants ? either holoparasitic or hemiparasitic (fully or partly parasitic). The holoparasitic species lack chlorophyll and therefore cannot perform photosynthesis. They may be yellowish, brownish, purplish, or white. Their alternate leaves have been reduced to somewhat fleshy, sessile scales. The hemiparasitic species (transferred from Scrophulariaceae) are capable of photosynthesis , and may be either facultative or obligate parasites.

Parasitic plants are attached to their host by means of haustoria, which transfer nutrients from the host to the parasite. Only the hemiparasitic species possess an additional extensive root system. In most holoparasitic species there is a swollen mass of short, bulky roots or one big swollen haustorial organ, which may be simple or composite.

The hermaphroditic flowers are bilaterally symmetrical and grow either in racemes or spikes or singly at the apex of the slender stem. The tubular calyx is formed by 2-5 united sepals. There are five united, bilabiate petals forming the corolla. The upper lip is two-lobed, the lower lip is three-lobed. There are two long and two short stamens on slender filaments, inserted below the middle, or at the base of the corolla tube, alternating with the lobes of the tube. A fifth stamen is either sterile or lacking completely. The anthers dehisce via longitudinal slits. The pistil is one-celled. The ovary is su perior. The flowers are pollinated by insects or birds (e.g. hummingbirds, as in Castilleja).

The fruit is a dehiscent, non-fleshy, 1-locular capsule with many very minute endospermic seeds. These are dispersed by the wind over long distances, which increases their chance of find a new host.

This family has tremendous economic importance because of the damage to crops caused by some species in the genera Orobanche and Striga.

Cistanche phelypaea
Bellardia trixago

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amily of flowering plants of the order Lamiales, with about 90 genera and more than 2000 species. Many of these genera were formerly included in the family Scrophulariaceae sensu lato. Together they are a monophyletic group, forming a distinct family.

This is a cosmopolitan family, found mainly in temperate Eurasia, North America, South America, parts of Australia, New Zealand and tropical Africa.

The Orobanchaceae are annual herbs or perennial herbs or shrubs, and all (except Lindenbergia and Rehmannia) are parasitic on the roots of other plants ? either holoparasitic or hemiparasitic (fully or partly parasitic). The holoparasitic species lack chlorophyll and therefore cannot perform photosynthesis. They may be yellowish, brownish, purplish, or white. Their alternate leaves have been reduced to somewhat fleshy, sessile scales. The hemiparasitic species (transferred from Scrophulariaceae) are capable of photosynthesis, and may be either facultative or obligate parasites.

Parasitic plants are attached to their host by means of haustoria, which transfer nutrients from the host to the parasite. Only the hemiparasitic species possess an additional extensive root system. In most holoparasitic species there is a swollen mass of short, bulky roots or one big swollen haustorial organ, which may be simple or composite.

The hermaphroditic flowers are bilaterally symmetrical and grow either in racemes or spikes or singly at the apex of the slender stem. The tubular calyx is formed by 2-5 united sepals. There are five united, bilabiate petals forming the corolla. The upper lip is two-lobed, the lower lip is three-lobed. There are two long and two short stamens on slender filaments, inserted below the middle, or at the base of the corolla tube, alternating with the lobes of the tube. A fift h stamen is either sterile or lacking completely. The anthers dehisce via longitudinal slits. The pistil is one-celled. The ovary is superior. The flowers are pollinated by insects or birds (e.g. hummingbirds, as in Castilleja).

The fruit is a dehiscent, non-fleshy, 1-locular capsule with many very minute endospermic seeds. These are dispersed by the wind over long distances, which increases their chance of find a new host.

This family has tremendous economic importance because of the damage to crops caused by some species in the genera Orobanche and Striga.

Cistanche phelypaea
Bellardia trixago

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References

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Taxonomy

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The Family Orobanchaceae is further organized into finer groupings including:

Genera

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Agalinis

Agalinis Raf. (false foxglove) is a genus of about 70 species in North, Central, and South America that until recently was aligned with members of the family Scrophulariaceae. As a result of numerous molecular phylogenetic studies based on various chloroplast DNA (cpDNA) loci, it was shown to be more closely related to members of the Orobanchaceae. Agalinis spp. are , which is a character that in part describes the Orobanchaceae. [more]

Alectra

[more]

Aureolaria

[more]

Bartsia

Bartsia is a genus of in family Orobanchaceae. It contains the following species (but this list may be incomplete): [more]

Boschniakia

Boschniakia is a small genus of three species of parasitic plant in the broomrape family. They are known commonly as groundcones and they are native to western North America and extreme northeastern Asia. Groundcones are holoparasitic, meaning they depend entirely on a host plant for nutrients and contain little or no chlorophyll. These plants often parasitize alders but they are found on many other plants. B. hookeri may be found on salal and huckleberries, and B. strobilacea grows on manzanita and madrone. Groundcones often look at first glance like pine cones lying on the ground, especially when they are brown in color. They may also be shades of yellow, red, and purple. Each plant may be a few inches tall, and pine-cone-shaped or cylindrical. The plant above ground is almost entirely made up of its inflorescence, a tightly packed column of thick cup-shaped flowers. The groundcone produces haustoria which penetrate the roots of its host and provide it with water and nutrients. [more]

Buchnera

Buchnera is a name for a number of things [more]

Bungea

[more]

Castilleja

Castilleja, commonly known as Indian paintbrush or prairie-fire, is a genus of about 200 species of annual and perennial herbaceous plants native to the west of the Americas from Alaska south to the Andes, northern Asia, and one species as far west as the Kola Peninsula in Siberia. These plants are classified in the broomrape family, Orobanchaceae (following major rearrangements of the order Lamiales starting around 2001; sources which do not follow these reclassifications may place them in the Scrophulariaceae). They are hemiparasitic on the roots of grasses and forbs. The generic name honours Spanish botanist Domingo Castillejo. [more]

Centranthera

Herbs, mostly annual. Flowers axillary, solitary, short pedicellate. Bracteoles 2. Calyx usually split on 1 side, spathelike, margin entire, apex acute, acuminate, or sometimes obtuse. Corolla funnelform, swelling below throat or distally gradually expanding, somewhat 2-lipped; lobes 5, subequal, erect or spreading. Stamens 4, didynamous; filaments usually hairy; anthers meeting in pairs, locules transverse, base spurred or mucronate, 2-loculed; 1 locule fertile, other reduced and empty. Style apex ligulate, enlarged, stigmatic. Capsule loculicidal; valves entire. Seeds numerous; seed coat loose, spirally striate or reticulate.[1] [more]

Ceratocalyx

[more]

Christisonia

Herbs small, usually several in a cluster. Stems short, unbranched. Inflorescences racemose or spicate; bractlets present or absent. Calyx tubular, apex 4- or 5-lobed; lobes usually unequal. Corolla white, pale purple (yellow, purple-red, or rose-red), tubular (tubular-campanulate or funnelform), apex 5-lobed. Stamens 4, included, or slightly exserted; anther cells 1 fertile and 1 absent or reduced into a spur, rarely both fertile. Ovary 1-locular and 2 placentas parietal (or 2-locular and placentas axile). Stigma lobed. Capsule ovoid or subglobose, dehiscing loculicidally. Seeds numerous, some reduced; testa reticulate.[2] [more]

Cistanche

Cistanche is a Chinese herbal medicine obtained from various species of the genus Cistanche, a genus of desert plants found worldwide. The main source of cistanche is Cistanche salsa and Cistanche deserticola, although it may also be obtained from Cistanche tubulosa, Cistanche sinensis, and Cistanche ambigua. The drug is collected in spring before sprouting. [more]

Clandestina

[more]

Conopholis

Conopholis is a small genus of flowering plants in the family Orobanchaceae. [more]

Cordylanthus

Cordylanthus is a genus of plants in the native to western North America. They are known commonly as bird's beaks. Like other broomrape relatives, bird's beaks are root parasites which insert haustoria into the roots of host plants to obtain nutrients. These are spare, weedy-looking annual plants with long branching erect stems and little foliage. Many bear bird's-beak-shaped flowers in shades of pink or purple. [more]

Cymbaria

[more]

Dasistoma

[more]

Diphelypaea

[more]

Epifagus

[more]

Epiphegus

Euphrasia

Euphrasia (Eyebright) is a genus of about 450 species of herbaceous flowering plants in the family Orobanchaceae (formerly included in the Scrophulariaceae), with a cosmopolitan distribution. They are semi-parasitic on grasses and other plants. The common name refers to the plant's use in treating eye infections. [more]

Harveya

[more]

Hyobanche

Lamourouxia

[more]

Lathraea

Toothworts (Lathraea) are a small genus of five to seven species of flowering plants, native to temperate Europe and Asia. They are parasitic plants on the roots of other plants, and are completely lacking chlorophyll. They are classified in the family Orobanchaceae. In addition, Cardamine concatenata is also called toothwort. [more]

Legocia

[more]

Leptorhabdos

[more]

Loxanthes

[more]

Macranthera

[more]

Mairella

[more]

Mannagettaea

Herbs small. Stems thick, short. Inflorescences subcapitate or subcorymbose; bract 1, long ovate or ovate-lanceolate; bractlets 2, linear or linear-lanceolate. Calyx tubular, apex 5-lobed. Corolla yellow or purple, bilabiate; tube longer than lip; upper lip entire or emarginate, larger than lower lip; lower lip 3-lobed. Stamens 4, included; anthers 2-celled, connective not elongated. Carpels 2; ovary 1-locular; parietal placentas 4. Style elongated; stigma subglobose. Capsule oblong or ovoid-globose. Seeds numerous; testa reticulate.[3] [more]

Melampyrum

Melampyrum is a genus of about 10-20 species of herbaceous flowering plants in the family Orobanchaceae, native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. They are hemiparasites on other plants, obtaining some mineral nutrients from the host plant, though they are able to survive on their own without parasitising other plants. [more]

Melasma

A Genus in the Kingdom Plantae. [more]

Micrargeria

Monochasma

[more]

Mylanche

[more]

Myzorrhiza

[more]

Nesogenes

[more]

Odontites

Odontites is a genus of flowering plants in the family Orobanchaceae. [more]

Omphalotrix

Herbs, annual. Leaves opposite. Racemes in panicles. Pedicel elongated. Calyx tube tubular-campanulate, parted medianly to 2/5 length, parted on lateral sides to 1/3-1/2 length, 5-veined. Corolla lower lip deeply 3-lobed, lobes patent; upper lip galeate, straight, margin flat, emarginate. Stamens 4, enclosed by galea; anthers arrow-shaped, locule base extending into spurs, barbate along slit after dehiscence. Stigma capitate. Capsule loculicidal. Seeds numerous; wings white, cross striate.[4] [more]

Orobanche

Broomrape or broom-rape (Orobanche) is a genus of over 200 species of parasitic herbaceous plants in the family Orobanchaceae, mostly native to the temperate Northern Hemisphere. Some species formerly included in this genus are now referred to the genus Conopholis. The broomrape plant is small, from 10?60 cm tall depending on species. It is best recognized by its yellow- to straw-colored stems completely lacking chlorophyll, bearing yellow, white or blue, snapdragon-like flowers. The flower shoots are scaly, with a dense terminal spike of 10-20 flowers in most species, though single in O. uniflora. The leaves are merely triangular scales. The seeds are minute, tan-to-brown, and blacken with age. These plants generally flower from late winter to late spring. When they are not flowering, no part of these plants is visible above the surface of the soil. [more]

Orthocarpus

[more]

Parentucellia

[more]

Pedicularis

Pedicularis is a genus of perennial green root parasite plants belonging to the broomrape family Orobanchaceae. Between 350 and 600 species are accepted by different authorities, mostly from the wetter northern temperate zones, as well as from South America. The highest diversity is in eastern Asia, with 352 species accepted in China alone by the Flora of China (not detailed here; see external links for details). [more]

Phacellanthus

Herbs fleshy. Stems short, cylindric. Leaves spirally arranged. Inflorescences subcapitate; bract 1, navicular-ovate, ca. 1/2 as long as corolla; bractlets absent. Flowers subsessile. Calyx absent. Corolla tubular-bilabiate; tube suberect, not enlarged; upper lip emarginate or 2-lobed; lower lip 3-lobed, much shorter than upper. Stamens (3 or) 4(or 5), included; anthers 2-celled, all fertile, connective slightly elongated. Carpels 3; ovary 1-locular; parietal placentas (4-) 6(or 10). Style long; stigma 2-lobed. Capsule ovoid. Seeds minute; testa reticulate.[5] [more]

Phelipaea

[more]

Phelipanche

Phelypaea

[more]

Phtheirospermum

Herbs, annual or perennial, viscid glandular villous. Stems 1 or cespitose. Leaves petiolate or sessile; leaf blade pinnately parted to pinnatisect. Flowers axillary from upper leaves, in lax racemes, short pedicellate. Bracteoles absent. Calyx campanulate, 5-lobed; lobes entire to pinnately parted. Corolla tubular, with 2 folds; lower lip spreading flat, 3-lobed; upper lip shorter than lower, erect, 2-lobed; lobes revolute. Stamens 4, didynamous; anterior stamens longer than posterior, included or exserted; anthers glabrous or woolly; anther locules 2, equal, distinct, parallel, mucronate. Ovary narrowly ovoid, apex 2-lobed. Capsule ovoid, compressed, beaked, loculicidal, valves entire. Seed ovoid; seed coat reticulate.[6] [more]

Platypholis

[more]

Pseudobartsia

Herbs, annual. Leaves opposite; leaf blade palmatisect, 3-parted. Racemes terminal. Calyx 10-veined, 5-lobed, parted to ca. 1/2 length, upper lobe slightly shallower. Corolla 2-lipped; lower lip exserted in bud, 3-lobed at anthesis, lobes patent, base 2-plicate; upper lip obscurely galeate, parted slightly beyond middle. Stamens 4, didynamous, enclosed by galea; anther locules equal, apically confluent, obovoid, pointed at base. Stigma capitate. Capsule loculicidal. Seeds numerous, sculptured, slightly curved; seed coat reticulate.[7] [more]

Rhamphicarpa

[more]

Rhinanthus

Rhinanthus (Rattle) is a genus of annual hemiparasitic herbs in the family Orobanchaceae, formerly classified in the family Scrophulariaceae. The genus consists of about 30-40 species found in Europe, northern Asia, and North America, with the greatest species diversity (28 species) in Europe. [more]

Schwalbea

Schwalbea is a genus in the family of . Some plants in this genus are: [more]

Seymeria

[more]

Seymeriopsis

[more]

Siphonostegia

Herbs, annual. Stems erect, basally woody, apically much branched. Leaves opposite, sessile or short petiolate; leaf blade pinnately parted or dissected. Racemes terminal; bracts foliaceous, parted to entire. Flowers opposite, sparse. Pedicel short. Bracteoles 2, linear. Calyx tube campanulate, 4-8 X longer than wide, membranous, 10-veined; lobes 5, subequal, sublanceolate. Corolla tube slender, straight, as long as or slightly longer than calyx tube; limb 2-lipped; lower lip as long as upper, 3-lobed; lobes ovate-triangular, subequal, apex acute, with 2 petaloid plaits; upper lip galeate, bowed. Stamens didynamous, slightly exserted. Ovary 2-loculed. Style slightly exserted. Capsule black to black-brown, enclosed by persistent calyx. Seeds numerous, oblong-ovoid; seed coat reticulate; wing thick, fleshy, hyaline.[8] [more]

Sopubia

Herbs, mostly annual. Stem branches opposite, rarely 3 in a whorl apically. Leaves entire or dissected. Flowers in terminal racemes or panicles, bracteate. Bracts foliaceous. Calyx campanulate, 5-lobed. Corolla lobes 5, spreading; lower lobes 2, inner in bud. Stamens 4, didynamous, included; anther locules 2 per stamen, 1 fertile, 1 reduced and empty. Stigma subligulate. Capsule ovoid to oblong, apex rounded or compressed, emarginate or deeply concave, loculicidal; valves not divided or shallowly lobed, separating from placental axis. Seeds numerous; seed coat loose.[9] [more]

Striga

[more]

Thalesia

[more]

Tienmuia

[more]

Tozzia

Triphysaria

Triphysaria is a genus of five plants in the broomrape family which are known generally as owl's clovers. This genus is closely related to the genera Castilleja and Orthocarpus. These plants, like those in many other genera in the family, are facultative hemiparasites on other plants. They produce haustoria that tap into the roots of other plants to extract some of the nutrients they need. The plants bear spike inflorescences of pouched, folded flowers that have lips shaped like the beak of an owl. Triphysaria are native to western North America. [more]

Xylanche

[more]

Xylocalyx

Xylocalyx is a genus of in family Scrophulariaceae. It contains the following species (but this list may be incomplete): [more]

At least 5 species and subspecies belong to the Genus Xylocalyx.

More info about the Genus Xylocalyx may be found here.

Bibliography

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Footnotes

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  1. "Centranthera". in Flora of China Vol. 18 Page 85. Published by Science Press (Beijing) and Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org.
  2. "Christisonia". in Flora of China Vol. 18 Page 242. Published by Science Press (Beijing) and Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org.
  3. "Mannagettaea". in Flora of China Vol. 18 Page 241. Published by Science Press (Beijing) and Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org.
  4. "Omphalotrix". in Flora of China Vol. 18 Page 95. Published by Science Press (Beijing) and Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org.
  5. "Phacellanthus". in Flora of China Vol. 18 Page 242. Published by Science Press (Beijing) and Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org.
  6. "Phtheirospermum". in Flora of China Vol. 18 Page 91. Published by Science Press (Beijing) and Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org.
  7. Deyuan Hong, Hanbi Yang, Cun-li Jin, Manfred A. Fischer, Noel H. Holmgren & Robert R. Mill "Pseudobartsia". in Flora of China Vol. 18 Page 96. Published by Science Press (Beijing) and Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org.
  8. "Siphonostegia". in Flora of China Vol. 18 Page 210. Published by Science Press (Beijing) and Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org.
  9. "Sopubia". in Flora of China Vol. 18 Page 87. Published by Science Press (Beijing) and Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org.

Sources

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Last Revised: August 24, 2012
2012/08/24 13:38:40