home

Lathrea clandestina - Purple Toothwort

Phylum: Magnoliophyta - Class: Equisetopsida - Order: Lamiales - Family: Orobanchaceae

flowers of Purple Toothwort

Although formerly considered to be a member of the figwort family, Scrophulariaceae, Purple Toothwort is now generally placed within the broomrape family Orobanchaceae; broomrapes are also parasitic plants.

Description

This quite rare but very distinctive perennial plant is parastitic on the roots of willow trees and sometimes on alder and poplar trees, too. It has no leaves, and the two-lipped flowers appear on very short leafless stems.

Habitat

This plant favours shady damp places, often beside tree-lined streams.

Lathraea clandestina, Purple Toothwort

Distribution

In Britain you are most likely to find Purple Toothwort in the chalk-stream meadows of southern England, but this particular plant was photographed beside the River Ribble in Cumbria, where it is much rarer.

Lathraea clandestina, Purple Toothwort, beneath a willow tree

Etymology

The generic name Lathraea comes from the Greek word lathraios and means hidden - a reference to the underground parasitic nature of this plant.

Acknowledgements

This page includes pictures kindly contributed by Martin James.

Sue Parker's latest ebook is a revised and enlarged edition of Wild Orchids in The Burren. Full details here...

Buy it for just £5.95 on Amazon...


Wildflowers in the Algarve, an introductory guide, by Sue Parker

Sue Parker's latest ebook is a revised and enlarged second edition of the acclaimed Wildflowers in the Algarve - an introductory guide. Full details here...

Buy it for just £3.95 on Amazon...

Sue Parker's new ebook is a comprehensive and fully revised edition of her acclaimed field guide to the Wild Orchids of Wales. Full details here...

Buy it for just £5.95 on Amazon...

Sue Parker's 5-star acclaimed field guide to the Wild Orchids of the Algarve is now available as an ebook. Full details here...

Buy it for just £5.95 on Amazon...


Please Help Us: If you have found this information interesting and useful, please consider helping to keep First Nature online by making a small donation towards the web hosting and internet costs.

Any donations over and above the essential running costs will help support the conservation work of Plantlife, the Rivers Trust and charitable botanic gardens - as do author royalties and publisher proceeds from books by Pat and Sue.

© 1995 - 2024 First Nature: a not-for-profit volunteer-run resource

Please help to keep this free resource online...

Terms of use - Privacy policy - Disable cookies - Links policy