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Orobanche pinorum

Common name:		Family:	Orobanchaceae
Author:	Geyer.	Botanical references:	60
Synonyms:
Known Hazards:	None known
Range:	Western N. America - Washington to N.W. California.
Habitat:	Coniferous woods[60].
Edibility Rating (1-5):	1	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	1

Other Possible Synonyms:	From various places across the web, may not be correct. See below.
	Aphyllon pinorum[B,P] Myzorrhiza pinorum[B,P] Phelipaea pinorum[B,P]
Other Common Names:	From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below.
	Conifer Broomrape [P], Pinewoods Broom-rape [B],
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. . The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs). We rate it 1/5 for edibility and 1/5 for medicinal use.

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

Habitats and Possible Locations

Woodland, Sunny Edge, Dappled Shade, Shady Edge.

Edible Uses

Leaves; Root.

The whole plant is edible, raw or cooked[172].

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

Laxative; Sedative.

The plant is laxative and sedative[172].

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. 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]. Its natural hosts are coniferous trees[60]. Modern research shows that the plant is not parasitic on coniferous plants but uses Holodiscus discolor as its host (personal communication from M. Ellis <markellis@usa.net>)

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.
[C] Taxon data. from the CalFlora database.
[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.
[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

[60] Hitchcock. C. L. Vascular Plants of the Pacific Northwest. University of Washington Press 1955
A standard flora for Western N. America with lots of information on habitat etc. Five large volumes, it is not for the casual reader.

[172] Schofield. J. J. Discovering Wild Plants - Alaska, W. Canada and the Northwest.
A nice guide to some useful plants in that area.

[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.

Readers Comments

Orobanche pinorum

Mark Ellis (markellis@usa.net) Tue Oct 26 20:08:15 1999

I'm personally opposed to growing plants outside their native habitats since they can become weeds that have few controls. This would be of particular concern regarding parasitic plants like O. pinorum, regardless of their edibility. The species of western North America might become parasitic on plants in your region and pose a threat to your native ecosystems, or it could possibly become an economic threat to agricultural plants there. Much money is spent on research and efforts to eradicate other species in this family that in fact do parasitize agricultural plants in the US, Europe, and the Middle East.

Orobanche pinorum

Mark Ellis (markellis@usa.net) Tue Oct 26 20:08:15 1999

Hello,

Just a note. I have done some research on Orobanche pinorum (pine broomrape) and have found no good evidence that it is parasitic on conifers, although this was the assumption when it was named in the last century, and it has been passed down for many years. You can still find references to coniferous hosts in many floras, yet the only host I have been able to confirm is Holodiscus discolor. And I have found no confirmation of gymnosperm hosts by any species in the Orobanchaceae. I will have a paper published on this species soon in the journal Madroño.

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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+pinorum
This page (US) http://www.ibiblio.org/pfaf/cgi-bin/arr_html?Orobanche+pinorum

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