Aphyllon epigalium

Galium broomrape, Galium Broomrape

Family: Orobanchaceae · Type: annual · Native

Galium broomrape is a California native annual parasitic plant found in areas where its host plant grows, typically at moderate elevations. Flowering from spring to summer, this delicate plant produces curved flowers 13 to 30 millimeters long, with a distinctive color palette ranging from straw-yellow to red, pink, or purple. Growing 10 to 30 centimeters tall with one or few branches emerging from its host plant's base, it has a slender, parasitic growth habit. Its flowers feature narrow calyx lobes 4 to 11 millimeters long and a unique red-orange nectary gland at the base of the ovary. The plant's anthers are notably hairy, with a two-lobed stigma that becomes recurved as it ages.

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.