Orobanche crenata
Wandering up the little lane outside our holiday flat in Crete, I came across quite a few plants which I hadn't yet photographed but was quite surprised by this clump of huge, fat Orobanche plants. Later I found quite a few more in a different part of the village and noticed that they find the roots of legumes particularly tasty although at least one appeared to have taken a fancy to Tropaeolum majus (Nasturtium).
In the main photos it is parasitic upon Vicia faba (Broad Bean) and when you see parasitic plants this size you can well believe they can do damage to crops.
In Spain again it was parasitic upon allotment vegetables.
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| Orobanche crenata |
Ano Stallos, Crete 4th April 2007
Added on 12th June 2007, updated 23rd January 2011, updated 26th March 2012