Thistle broomrape (Orobanche reticulata)

Thistle broomrape flowers
Thistle broomrape flowers

Thistle broomrape fact file

Thistle broomrape description

KingdomPlantae
PhylumAnthophyta
ClassMagnoliopsida
OrderScrophulariales
FamilyOrobanchaceae
GenusOrobanche (1)

All broomrapes are said to resemble 'withered orchids' (4); they are parasitic, and lack the green pigment chlorophyll. Thistle broomrape is a stocky plant, and has yellow stems often with a purple tinge. The leaves are scale-like and the flowers, which have two lips, are yellowish-white or purple in colour (2).

Size
Height: around 40 cm (2)
Top

Thistle broomrape biology

Thistle broomrape is a parasite of the roots of thistle, particularly of creeping thistle, Cirsium arvense and seems to prefer small, young host plants (3). It is a perennial species (lives for more than one year) but can also occur as an annual or a biennial, depending on the situation (3). It first appears in July and produces many small seeds, which have good powers of dispersal and seem able to remain dormant for a number of years (3).

Top

Thistle broomrape range

In the UK, this species occurs only in Yorkshire in about 70 populations (3). It also occurs throughout much of Europe reaching into North Africa and western Asia. The status of the species in Britain is not clear; some authorities believe that it is a separate species to the form that occurs on the continent, and is therefore endemic to our shores (3).

You can view distribution information for this species at the National Biodiversity Network Gateway.

Top

Thistle broomrape habitat

Inhabits riverbanks, flood plains, road verges, and semi-natural grasslands (3).

Top

Thistle broomrape status

Classified as Lower Risk- near threatened in Great Britain and listed on Schedule 8 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act (3).

Top

Thistle broomrape threats

The most serious threat to this species is the destruction of the host plants, which are agricultural pests. Ploughing, road building, and spraying are also threats (3).

Top

Thistle broomrape conservation

Thistle broomrape receives full protection under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, it is therefore illegal to cut, uproot, destroy or sell this species. As the species cannot survive in dense vegetation, disturbing the soil and opening up the sward is beneficial, and has increased the population at a few sites (3).

There may be further information about this species available via the National Biodiversity Network Gateway.

Top

Authentication

Information authenticated by Plantlife, the wild plant conservation charity:
http://www.plantlife.org.uk

Top

Glossary

Annual
Lives or grows for just one year.
Biennial
A plant that lives for two years and typically flowers only in the second year.
Chlorophyll
A group of green pigments found in photosynthetic organisms (photosynthesis is a metabolic process characteristic of plants in which carbon dioxide is reduced, using energy absorbed by the green pigment chlorophyll. Organic compounds are made and oxygen is given off as a by-product).
Endemic
A species or taxonomic group that is only found in one particular country or geographic area.
Lips
In plants, petal or petals that form a lobe.
Parasite
An organism that derives its food from, and lives in or on, another living organism at the host's expense.
Perennial
Plants that live for at least three seasons; after an initial period they produce flowers once a year.
Top

References

  1. National Biodiversity Network Species Dictionary ( January 2003) http://www.nhm.ac.uk/nbn/
  2. Press, B. & Gibbons, B. (1993) Photographic field guide: Wild Flowers of Britain and Europe. New Holland (Publishers) Ltd., London.
  3. Wigginton, M. J. (1999) British Red Data Books 1; Vascular Plants. 3rd Edition. JNCC, Peterborough.
  4. Mabey, R. (1996) Flora Britannica. Sinclair-Stevenson, London.

More »Related species

Nodding broomrape (Orobanche cernua)Egyptian broomrape (Orobanche aegyptiaca)Yellow broomrape (Cistanche phelypaea)Desert hyacinth (Cistanche tubulosa)Rohida (Tecomella undulata)Amphitecna (Amphitecna spathicalyx)Streptocarpus (Streptocarpus davyi)Forestiera (Forestiera hondurensis)

Please donate to ARKive today

Help us share the wonders of the natural world. Donate today!

Sign up to our newsletter

Get the latest wild news direct to your inbox.

Get involved

ARKive relies on its media donors to donate photos and videos. Can you help? There are plenty of other ways you can get involved too!

X
Close

Image credit

Thistle broomrape flowers  
Thistle broomrape flowers

© Bill Meek / CEH Monks Wood

Bill Meek
Tel: +44 (0) 1487 772 400
wrm@ceh.ac.uk

X
Close

Link to this photo

ARKive species - Thistle broomrape (Orobanche reticulata) Embed this ARKive thumbnail link by copying and pasting the code below.

Terms of Use - The displayed thumbnail may be used as a link from your website to ARKive's online content for private, scientific, conservation or educational purposes only. It may NOT be used within Apps.

Read more about

X
Close

MyARKive

MyARKive offers the scrapbook feature to signed-up members, allowing you to organize your favourite ARKive images and videos and share them with friends.

X
Close

Terms and Conditions of Use of Materials

Copyright in this website and materials contained on this website (Material) belongs to Wildscreen or its licensors.

Visitors to this website (End Users) are entitled to:

  • view the contents of, and Material on, the website;
  • download and retain copies of the Material on their personal systems in digital form in low resolution for their own personal use;
  • teachers, lecturers and students may incorporate the Material in their educational material (including, but not limited to, their lesson plans, presentations, worksheets and projects) in hard copy and digital format for use within a registered educational establishment, provided that the integrity of the Material is maintained and that copyright ownership and authorship is appropriately acknowledged by the End User.

End Users shall not copy or otherwise extract, alter or manipulate Material other than as permitted in these Terms and Conditions of Use of Materials.

Additional use of flagged material

Green flagged material 

Certain Material on this website (Licence 4 Material) displays a green flag next to the Material and is available for not-for-profit conservation or educational use. This material may be used by End Users, who are individuals or organisations that are in our opinion not-for-profit, for their not-for-profit conservation or not-for-profit educational purposes. Low resolution, watermarked images may be copied from this website by such End Users for such purposes. If you require high resolution or non-watermarked versions of the Material, please contact Wildscreen with details of your proposed use.

Creative commons material

Certain Material on this website has been licensed to Wildscreen under a Creative Commons Licence. These images are clearly marked with the Creative Commons buttons and may be used by End Users only in the way allowed by the specific Creative Commons Licence under which they have been submitted. Please see http://creativecommons.org for details.

Any other use

Please contact the copyright owners directly (copyright and contact details are shown for each media item) to negotiate terms and conditions for any use of Material other than those expressly permitted above. Please note that many of the contributors to ARKive are commercial operators and may request a fee for such use.

Save as permitted above, no person or organisation is permitted to incorporate any copyright material from this website into any other work or publication in any format (this includes but is not limited to: websites, Apps, CDs, DVDs, intranets, extranets, signage, digital communications or on printed materials for external or other distribution). Use of the Material for promotional, administrative or for-profit purposes is not permitted.