home

Orobanche amethystea - Amethyst Broomrape

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

Amethyst Broomrape flowering in Italy

This robust member of the Broomrape family occurs throughout the southern Mediterranean region, Western Europe, and into parts of Central Europe. One of 150 broomrape species that occur mainly in the Mediterranean region,it has also been found in Southern Germany. The plant is mainly parasitic on Eryngium campestre (Field Eryngo), and the presence of its host is by far the easiest way of identifying this species. Broomrapes are notoriously difficult to identify accurately, an endeavour not helped by the fact that they can occur several metres away from the host with many plants growing in between them!

Orobanche amethystea, along with its host, occurs mainly on short, alkaline grassland, but can be found in thickets in rough ground, too. The plant on this page was photographed in the Gargano Peninsula area of Italy in mid-April.


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 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