Aphyllon fasciculatum

Clustered broomrape, Clustered Broomrape

Family: Orobanchaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Clustered broomrape is a California native parasitic perennial found in dry, generally bare places in the Sierra Nevada, Tehachapi Mountains, and Transverse Ranges at elevations of 1,200 to 3,500 meters. Flowering from June to August, this plant produces pink to dark maroon flowers 12 to 30 millimeters long with curved lower sections and rounded lobe tips. Growing with slender stems 3 to 20 centimeters tall, often clustered and sometimes branched, it forms compact raceme-like inflorescences with 3 to 18 flowers. Its flowers feature distinctive glandular-puberulent bracts and an unusual orange nectary gland at the base of the ovary. The plant has an unusual parasitic growth habit, with anthers that are generally hairy and a two-lobed stigma that is recurved.

Habitat: Dry, generally +- bare places, on

Bloom period: Jun-Aug

Elevation: 1200-3500 m

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