Aphyllon franciscanum

Franciscan broomrape

Family: Orobanchaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Franciscan broomrape is a native perennial parasitic plant found in California's widespread serpentine habitats at elevations below 2,300 meters. Flowering from February to July, this plant produces pale to lemon yellow flowers with occasional orange or purple tints, sometimes up to 32 millimeters long with acute or soft-pointed lobe tips. Growing in clusters or individually with stems 3 to 20 centimeters tall, it develops branched or unbranched stems that form raceme-like inflorescences with 4 to 15 flowers. Its flowers feature distinctive triangular calyx lobes 2 to 5 millimeters long with darker tips and include hairy anthers and a two-lobed recurved stigma. The plant includes an orange nectary gland at the base of its ovary, highlighting its unique parasitic botanical characteristics.

Habitat: Widespread where hosts present, including serpentine; most commonly on

Bloom period: Feb-July

Elevation: < 2300 m

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