''Orobanche uniflora'', commonly known as one-flowered broomrape, one-flowered cancer root, ghost pipe or naked broomrape, is an annual parasitic

herbaceous plant Herbaceous plants are vascular plants that have no persistent woody stems above ground. This broad category of plants includes many perennials, and nearly all annuals and biennials. Definitions of "herb" and "herbaceous" The fourth edition o ...

. It is native to much of North America, where it is a

parasitic plant 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 Parasite, parasitic plants develop a specialized organ ...

, tapping nutrients from many other species of plants, including those in the families

Asteraceae Asteraceae () is a large family (biology), family of flowering plants that consists of over 32,000 known species in over 1,900 genera within the Order (biology), order Asterales. The number of species in Asteraceae is rivaled only by the Orchi ...

and

Saxifragaceae Saxifragaceae is a family of Herbaceous plant, herbaceous Perennial plant, perennial flowering plants, within the core eudicot Order (biology), order Saxifragales. The Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy of the family has been greatly revised and the ...

and in the genus ''

Sedum ''Sedum'' is a large genus of flowering plants in the family Crassulaceae, members of which are commonly known as stonecrops. The genus has been described as containing up to 600 species, subsequently reduced to 400–500. They are leaf succule ...

''. The name "orobanche" can be translated to "vetch-strangler" and "uniflora" can be translated to "single-flower".

Description

''Orobanche uniflora'' grows to in height, with one purple-to-white flower with five petals per stem. The corolla is two-lipped, finely fringed with five similar lobes. The main stem is under the ground, with only the

pedicels In botany, a pedicel is a stem that attaches a single flower to the inflorescence In botany, an inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a plant's Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a system of branch ...

being seen and each pedicel containing only one flower. The stems are grayish tan. No leaves are on the plant or offshoot from it. It reproduces from its seeds, which are produced from fruit that has two sections. Many seeds are produced from the plant's fruit. The plant is

parasitic Parasitism is a close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives (at least some of the time) on or inside another organism, the host, causing it some harm, and is adapted structurally to this way of life. The ent ...

, feeding off of other plants' root systems, often on the

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek words (; 'container, vessel') and (; 'seed'), meaning that the seeds are enclosed with ...

genus ''

'' which are also known as stonecrops. It does not produce

chlorophyll Chlorophyll is any of several related green pigments found in cyanobacteria and in the chloroplasts of algae and plants. Its name is derived from the Greek words (, "pale green") and (, "leaf"). Chlorophyll allows plants to absorb energy ...

, rather gaining its

nutrient A nutrient is a substance used by an organism to survive, grow and reproduce. The requirement for dietary nutrient intake applies to animals, plants, fungi and protists. Nutrients can be incorporated into cells for metabolic purposes or excret ...

s, such as

carbohydrate A carbohydrate () is a biomolecule composed of carbon (C), hydrogen (H), and oxygen (O) atoms. The typical hydrogen-to-oxygen atomic ratio is 2:1, analogous to that of water, and is represented by the empirical formula (where ''m'' and ''n'' ...

s, from other plant species. Due to not producing chlorophyll, the plant does not produce any green portions. It is not agreed upon by botanists whether the plant's flowers are

pollinated Pollination is the transfer of pollen from an anther of a plant to the stigma of a plant, later enabling fertilisation and the production of seeds. Pollinating agents can be animals such as insects, for example bees, beetles or butterflies; bird ...

by insects or if they are pollinated by the plant itself. The

life expectancy Human life expectancy is a statistical measure of the estimate of the average remaining years of life at a given age. The most commonly used measure is ''life expectancy at birth'' (LEB, or in demographic notation ''e''0, where '' ...

of the species is unknown. The species closely resembles '' Orobanche fasciculata''. The two can be differentiated by their bracts and number of flowers. The bract looks like a small leaf and is found at the junction of where each flower stalk is attached to the underground stem. ''O. uniflora's'' bracts are hairless while ''O. fasciculata'''s bracts are hairy. The flowers of ''O. uniflora'' have one to three flowers on each stem branch while ''O. fasciculata'' has three to ten flowers per stem branch. ''O. fasciculata'' has flowers that are pinkish to creamy-white, unlike ''O. uniflora'' which is tinged with violet.

Habitat

The plant can be found in woods,

thicket A thicket is a very dense stand of trees or tall shrubs, often dominated by only one or a few species, to the exclusion of all others. They may be formed by species that shed large numbers of highly viable seeds that are able to germinate in th ...

s, and mountains as well as by stream banks, and is widespread in much of North America. Unlike other species in the genus ''Orobanche'', ''O. uniflora'' is largely a species that can be commonly found in forests. The species has been found surviving in both the sunlight and shaded areas, as well as in a variety of different types of

soil Soil, also commonly referred to as earth, is a mixture of organic matter, minerals, gases, water, and organisms that together support the life of plants and soil organisms. Some scientific definitions distinguish dirt from ''soil'' by re ...

. Its

habitat In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species' habitat can be seen as the physical manifestation of its ...

is restricted to places where there are plenty of host plants. It might be difficult for this species to survive in an area where its host plants are sparsely found. A specimen is contained within the botany department of the

Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History The National Museum of Natural History (NMNH) is a natural history museum administered by the Smithsonian Institution, located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., United States. It has free admission and is open 364 days a year. With ...

and another specimen has been photographed at Hells Canyon National Recreation Area. It is considered rare or vulnerable in 17 states and five Canadian provinces. The species was identified as being of Special Concern in

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

in 1984 and was changed to endangered in 2013. When it was originally listed as a Special Concern in Minnesota, only seven populations were known to exist. File:Orobanche uniflora, Vermont.jpg, Orobanche uniflora flowering in a Vermont woodland setting.

References

External links

E-Flora BC

Jepson Manual Treatment

USDA Plants Profile

Photo gallery
{{Taxonbar, from=Q7103704 uniflora Parasitic plants Flora of Northern America Plants described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus