Orobanchaceae
Orobanche fasciculata

Clustered Broomrape

Erect plant without chlorophyll, hairless or with soft colorless hairs. Stems more than 2 in. tall, often branched, or cluster of flower stalks each with single flower. Flowers generally 4–10, calyx lobes less than or equal to tube, tubular flower curved, 5 lobes, purplish or sometimes yellow. Grows in dry open places attached to shrubs such as eriogonums and artemisias. Easily confused with naked broomrape, O. uniflora, which has single flower on stalk with violet hairs. Similar O. corymbosa is less than 1 1/2 in. tall, with few, densely hairy, purplish to pink flowers, and is parasitic on Artemisia tridentata, big sagebrush.

  • Rarity: Locally Common
  • Flowering Time: Late Spring, Early Summer
  • Life Cycle: Annual
  • Height: 2--8 inches
  • Habitat: West-Side Forest, East-Side Forest, Shrub-Steppe
  • Found In: Olympic Np, Steens, Siskiyous, N Cascades Np
  • Native: Yes