The Scrophulariaceae are a family of flowering plants, commonly known as the figwort family. The plants are annual and perennial herbs, as well as shrubs. Flowers have bilateral (zygomorphic) or rarely radial (actinomorphic) symmetry. The Scrophulariaceae have a cosmopolitan distribution, with the majority found in temperate areas, including tropical mountains. The family name is based on the name of the included genus Scrophularia L.
The Juglandaceae are a plant family known as the walnut family. They are trees, or sometimes shrubs, in the order Fagales. Members of this family are native to the Americas, Eurasia, and Southeast Asia.
Orobanchaceae, the broomrapes, is a family of mostly parasitic 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. With its new circumscription, Orobanchaceae forms a distinct, monophyletic family. From a phylogenetic perspective, it is defined as the largest crown clade containing Orobanche major and relatives, but neither Paulownia tomentosa nor Phryma leptostachya nor Mazus japonicus.
Pedicularis densiflora, known commonly as Indian warrior or warrior's-plume lousewort, is a plant in the family Orobanchaceae.
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 haustorium, which penetrates the host plant, connecting them to the host vasculature – either the xylem, phloem, or both. For example, plants like Striga or Rhinanthus connect only to the xylem, via xylem bridges (xylem-feeding). Alternately, plants like Cuscuta and some members of Orobanche connect to both the xylem and phloem of the host. This provides them with the ability to extract resources from the host. These resources can include water, nitrogen, carbon and/or sugars. Parasitic plants are classified depending on the location where the parasitic plant latches onto the host, the amount of nutrients it requires, and their photosynthetic capability. Some parasitic plants can locate their host plants by detecting volatile chemicals in the air or soil given off by host shoots or roots, respectively. About 4,500 species of parasitic plants in approximately 20 families of flowering plants are known.
Acanthostachys is a genus of the botanical family Bromeliaceae, subfamily Bromelioideae. The genus name is from the Greek “acanthos” and “stachys”.
Cistanche is a worldwide genus of holoparasitic desert plants in the family Orobanchaceae. They lack chlorophyll and obtain nutrients and water from the host plants whose roots they parasitize. They are often known as desert hyacinths.
Boschniakia is a genus of parasitic plants in the family Orobanchaceae. They are known commonly as groundcones and they are native to western North America and extreme northeastern Asia. Some taxonomists consider Boschniakia to be three separate genera: Boschniakia, Kopsiopsis, and Xylanche. When the genus is split, only a single species remains: Boschniakia rossica, the northern groundcone.
Kopsiopsis hookeri is a species of parasitic plant in the family Orobanchaceae known as Vancouver groundcone, small groundcone or poque.
Orobanche minor, the hellroot, common broomrape, lesser broomrape, small broomrape or clover broomrape, is a holoparasitic flowering plant belonging to the family Orobanchaceae. It is one of about 150 non-photosynthetic plants in the genus Orobanche that parasitize autotrophic plants.
Orobanche pinorum is a species of broomrape known by the common name conifer broomrape. It is native to the forests of western North America, where it is a parasite growing attached to the roots of other plants, usually Holodiscus species. This plant has an erect stem with a wide, thickened base and slender top growing 10–30 centimetres (3.9–11.8 in) tall. As a parasite taking its nutrients from a host plant, it lacks leaves and chlorophyll and is brownish or yellowish in color. The inflorescence is a dense, spreading array of purple-tinged yellowish flowers 1–2 centimetres (0.39–0.79 in) long.
Triphysaria eriantha is a species of flowering plant in the family Orobanchaceae, known by the common names johnny-tuck and butter-and-eggs.
Triphysaria floribunda is a rare species of flowering plant in the family Orobanchaceae known by the common name San Francisco owl's-clover. It is endemic to California, where it is known only from the San Francisco Bay Area. It is limited to coastal regions of Marin, San Francisco, and San Mateo Counties, where it occurs in coastal prairie habitats, sometimes on serpentine soils.
Castilleja sessiliflora is a species of flowering plant in the family Orobanchaceae known by the common names downy Indian paintbrush and downy paintedcup. It is native to the Great Plains of North America from southern Canada, through the central United States, to northern Mexico. It occurs as far west as the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains.
Aeginetia is a genus of plants in the broomrape family Orobanchaceae, native mostly to tropical Asia and also Cameroon.
Hyobanche are a genus of flowering plants in the broomrape family Orobanchaceae, native to southern Africa. They are root parasites that cannot perform photosynthesis, and are only observed above ground when flowering.
Kopsiopsis is a small genus of flowering plants in the family Orobanchaceae native to North America.
Xylanche himalaica is a species of flowering plant in the family Orobanchaceae native to Asia. It was first formally named as Boschniakia himalaica in 1884 and transferred to the genus Xylanche in 1893. It is the only species in the genus Xylanche.
Acanthostachys calcicola is a species of plant discovered in a limestone rock in the Brazilian state of Tocantins.
Rafflesia lawangensis is a species of parasitic plant in the genus Rafflesia. It is exclusively found in Bukit Lawang, a small tourist village in Mount Leuser National Park, North Sumatra, Indonesia. Previously misidentified as Rafflesia arnoldii, photographs taken in 2005 led to the eventual separation of Rafflesia lawangensis as a distinct species in 2010.
