General: Desert Broom-rape (Orobanche cooperi) is a parasitic plant that has no chlorophyll. Broom-rapes attach to the roots of other plants and sucks sugars and nutrients from them. Desert Broom-rape usually has a single, short above-ground stalk, from which flowers emerge. The stem and the flowers are purplish.

Desert Broom-rape is an uncommon component of vegetation communities in dry, well-drained sandy and gravelly areas on desert flats, bajadas, and moderate slopes in the Lower Sonoran (Creosote-Bursage Flats) and Upper Sonoran (Mojave Desert Scrub) life zones.

Family: Broom-rape (Orobanchaceae).

Other Names:

Plant Form: Short, stout stalk emerging from the ground.

Height: Usually 5-6 inches, to about 20 inches.

Stems: Stout stalk, usually single.

Leaves: None.

Flowers: Tubular, asymmetrical with three lobes down and two up. Throat yellow, lobes purplish.

Seeds:

Habitat: Desert flats and bajadas, muddy and sandy areas.

Elevation: To about 2,500 feet.

Distribution: Southwestern deserts.

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