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Plate 48] OBOBANCHE 69
Fig. 2. Orobanche epithymum, DC. Eed Thyme Broom-rape.
(Epithymum means " on Thymus," alluding to the fact that the
plant is parasitic on the Thyrne.)
A perennial glandular-hairy, red or purple-brown herb.
Stems erect, rather slender, unbranched, scaly, thickened
below, 3-12 in. high, leafless. Flowers red-brown, irregular,
each in the axil of a bract, forming a spike 1-3 in. long.
Calyx deeply divided to the base into 4 unequal, lance-shaped
lobes. Corolla 2-lipped, f in. long, hairy ;
tube cylindric,
curved; upper lip erect, arched, notched, lower spreading,
3-lobed, margins wavy, finely toothed. Stamens 4, included
in the tube, in unequal pairs, attached near the base of the
tube ;
filaments hairy at the base. Ovary egg-shaped, 1-celled.
Style long, curved ; stigma broad, indistinctly 2-lobed, dark
brownish-purple. Capsule opening by 2 valves. Seeds many,
very small.
Flowers.
June.
Locality. Neighbourhood of Srinagar Chashma.
;
Distribution -W'.
Himalaya, from Kashmir (7,000-11,000 ft.)
and Central Asia, Europe.
to Kumaon (13,000 ft.) ;
W.
Fig. 3. Orobanche cernua, Loeffl.
(Cernua means curved, alluding to the corolla.)
Stems one or more, stout or slender, 6-12 in. high, pale
brown or bluish, scales egg-shaped, upper ones sharp- or longpointed.
Flower-spikes dense, about half as long as the stem
or longer. Flowers blue ;
bracts lance-shaped, shorter than
the corolla, cleft to the middle, segments lance-shaped ;
bracteoles none. Calyx half as long as the corolla, segments
cleft to the middle or entire. Corolla i-f in. long, curved
outwards, glabrous or sometimes slightly hairy above, lobes
crenate, not hairy on the margin, the 2 upper broad, the
3 lower egg-shaped, long-pointed. Filaments hairless ;
anthercells
long-pointed, hairless or slightly hairy. Style glabrous ;
lobes