Burro Weed Strangler
Desert Broomrape
Orobanche cooperi
LEAVES: No green leaves. Purplish-brown bracts on flowering stalk are
short, elliptic.
FLOWERS: Dark purple to brown flowering stalk appears briefly above
ground in spring time. Purple flowers are two-lipped.
ANNUAL HERB: Parasitic on roots of bursages, salt bush and possibly other desert
shrubs. Appears above ground during spring flowering
periods.
UNARMED.
FRUIT: Dry capsules split open lengthwise to release numerous small
seeds.
RANGE: This is a common plant but is not easily found when not in bloom.
It is widely distributed in the Sonoran Desert of Arizona and Sonora on bajadas
and desert plains.
Bolting up through crusty, sandy soil near Tacna, Yuma Co., Arizona. 20 Feb. 2016.