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Orobanche fasciculata

Common name:	Cancer Root	Family:	Orobanchaceae
Author:	Nutt.	Botanical references:	43, 71, 235
Synonyms:
Known Hazards:	None known
Range:	Western N. America - Indiana to Yukon and British Columbia, south to California and Arizona.
Habitat:	Sandy soils[235], where it is parasitic on the roots of Eriogonum and Artemisia spp[43], to 3200 metres in California and north to British Columbia[71].
Edibility Rating (1-5):	1	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	2

Other Possible Synonyms:	From various places across the web, may not be correct. See below.
	Anoplanthus fasciculatus[B,P] Aphyllon fasciculatum[B] O. fasciculata var. franciscana[B,P] O. fasciculata var. lutea[B,P] O. fasciculata var. subulata[B,P] O. fasciculata var. typica[B,P] Thalesia fasciculata[B,P] Thalesia lutea[B,P]
Other Common Names:	From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below.
	Broom Rape [S], Broomrape, Cancer Root [S], Cancer Root [S], Clustered Broom-rape [B], Clustered Broomrape [P],
Epithets:	From a Dictionary of Botanical Epithets
	fasciculata = banded, bundled;
Systematics:	From a USDA Plants Database
	Order: Scrophulariales. Broom-rape family
Noxious, Invasive and Injurious Weeds	From USDA PLANTS database, Weeds Australia , DEFRA Injurious Weeds
	Listed as noxious/invasive for: South Australia, Western Australia.

Physical Characteristics

Perennial growing to 1m. . The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs). We rate it 1/5 for edibility and 2/5 for medicinal use.

The plant prefers light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils and requires well-drained soil. The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It can grow in full shade (deep woodland) semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade. It requires moist soil.

Habitats and Possible Locations

Woodland, Dappled Shade, Shady Edge, Deep Shade.

Edible Uses

Leaves.

The entire plant is edible - raw or cooked[46, 61, 105, 161, 257]. The plant can be boiled in ashes then peeled and eaten like potatoes[257].

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

Antihaemorrhoidal; Cancer; Pectoral; Poultice; Salve.

The root is pectoral[257]. The chewed root has been used as a dressing on wounds and open sores[257].
An infusion of the leaves is used as a wash on sores[257].
Forms of the plant that are parasitic on sweet sage roots have been used as a treatment of cancer[257].
The dried and powdered plant is inserted in the rectum as a specific treatment for haemorrhoids[257].

Other Uses

None known

Cultivation details

We have very little information on this species and do not know if it will be hardy in Britain, though judging by its native range it should succeed outdoors in most parts of the country. It requires a well-drained soil and should succeed in sun or shade.
A fully parasitic plant lacking in chlorophyll, it is entirely dependant upon its host plant for obtaining nutrient[200].

Propagation

Seed - we have no information on this species but suggest sowing the seed in a greenhouse in a pot containing a host plant. The seed is probably best sown as soon as it is ripe if this is possible. It might also be possible to sow the seed in situ around a host plant.

Suppliers

For more details of plant suppliers please see our Suppliers Page which lists many more places to look.

Web References

[B] Data (Latin & Common names, other references) from the BONAP's Synonymized Checklist of the Vascular Flora of the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
[S] Image from the Southwest School of Botanical Medicine
[C] Taxon data. from the CalFlora database.
Images from the CalPhoto database.
[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.
[S] SW USA Dist. Maps from the Southwest School of Botanical Medicine
[HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant Database

References for the family Orobanchaceae.

[CHINA] Data Very detailed botanical/identification info. from the Flora of China.

See the PFAF Links Pages for other sources.

Also try Photos and info from the The Plants Database which has 14,000 images.

References

[43] Fernald. M. L. Gray's Manual of Botany. American Book Co. 1950
A bit dated but good and concise flora of the eastern part of N. America.

[46] Uphof. J. C. Th. Dictionary of Economic Plants. Weinheim 1959
An excellent and very comprehensive guide but it only gives very short descriptions of the uses without any details of how to utilize the plants. Not for the casual reader.

[61] Usher. G. A Dictionary of Plants Used by Man. Constable 1974 ISBN 0094579202
Forget the sexist title, this is one of the best books on the subject. Lists a very extensive range of useful plants from around the world with very brief details of the uses. Not for the casual reader.

[71] Munz. A California Flora. University of California Press 1959
An excellent flora but no pictures. Not for the casual reader.

[105] Tanaka. T. Tanaka's Cyclopaedia of Edible Plants of the World. Keigaku Publishing 1976
The most comprehensive guide to edible plants I've come across. Only the briefest entry for each species, though, and some of the entries are more than a little dubious. Not for the casual reader.

[161] Yanovsky. E. Food Plants of the N. American Indians. Publication no. 237. U.S. Depf of Agriculture.
A comprehensive but very terse guide. Not for the casual reader.

[200] Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992 ISBN 0-333-47494-5
Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.

[235] Britton. N. L. Brown. A. An Illustrated Flora of the Northern United States and Canada Dover Publications. New York. 1970 ISBN 0-486-22642-5
Reprint of a 1913 Flora, but still a very useful book.

[257] Moerman. D. Native American Ethnobotany Timber Press. Oregon. 1998 ISBN 0-88192-453-9
Very comprehensive but terse guide to the native uses of plants. Excellent bibliography, fully referenced to each plant, giving a pathway to further information. Not for the casual reader.

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Bibliography

Plant information taken from the Plants For A Future - Species Database. Copyright (c) 1997-2003.
WEB search engine by Rich Morris - Home Page- Contact Info
Blagdon Cross, Ashwater, Beaworthy, Devon, EX21 5DF, UK.
Website: www.pfaf.org Phone: 0845 458 4719/_44(0) 1208 872963

This page (UK) http://www.comp.leeds.ac.uk/cgi-bin/pfaf/arr_html?Orobanche+fasciculata
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We make no claims of magical effects or supernatural powers for any item in this catalog. In spite of legendary attributes or occult and craft tradition, such items are offered as curios only and beliefs concerning their magical effectiveness are related only for historical interest.