Family |
Orobanchaceae
Orobanche crenata
Forssk.
Orobanche crenata Forssk.
First published in Fl. Aegypt.-Arab.: 113 (1775).
(Nouvelle Flore du Liban et de la Syrie, vol. 3, p. 280, Pl. CXLIII, 2; 1983)
Description
Synonyms: Orobanche speciosa DC.
Life-form & habit: Parasitic herb, described by Mouterde as perennial, with a glandular-hairy stem 15–50 cm tall, more or less swollen at the base.
Leaves: Few, lanceolate, crisped scales.
Inflorescence & flowers: Many-flowered spike, loose towards the base. Flowers 12–18 mm. Lanceolate bracts taper to a slender point and slightly exceed the corolla tube. Calyx segments bifid, five-veined and approximately as long as the corolla tube. Corolla bell-shaped, white or pinkish-white with purple stripes, becoming papery and brownish when dry. Both lips have rounded, more or less scalloped, finely toothed and fringed lobes. Stamens inserted at the tube base, their filaments hairy below and more or less glandular above. Stigma pale violet.
Flowering and habitat
Phenology: January–April, sometimes May.
Habitat & elevation: Parasitic mainly on cultivated legumes, occasionally on other plants; Mouterde describes it as frequently damaging to crops.
Distribution
Lebanese distribution: Tyr, Saida, Beirut, Nahr el Kelb, Tripoli, below Beit Meri, between Broummana and Ras el Metn, Zahle, Rayak and Sarada.
Syrian distribution: Lattaquie, Nahr Sene, Banias, Aleppo, Mouslimiye, Qatma, Homs, Hama, Damascus and Deraa.
Recorded locations: Kfertay and Beit Meri.
Native range: Albania, Algeria, Azores, Baleares, Bulgaria, Canary Is., Corse, Cyprus, East Aegean Is., Egypt, France, Greece, Iran, Iraq, Italy, Kriti, Krym, Lebanon-Syria, Libya, Madeira, Morocco, North Caucasus, NW. Balkan Pen., Palestine, Portugal, Sardegna, Sicilia, Sinai, Spain, Tunisia, Türkiye and Türkiye-in-Europe.
Introduced into: Czechia-Slovakia, Ethiopia, Germany and Great Britain.