Given the delayed spring we've had locally, Orobanche uniflora ought to be in bloom this weekend at the Tom McCall Preserve near Rowena, Oregon (where this photograph was taken two years and a few days ago). I've scanned the ground for these low growers (to 15cm tall) the past two weekends in local areas, but no luck for me this year.
Orobanche uniflora, or naked broomrape (or one-flowered broomrape or one-flowered cancer-root), is distributed throughout much of North America north of Mexico with the exception of Manitoba, Labrador, and Canada's central northern territories (the species is also found in Baja California). There seems to be much morphological variation within the species -- for example, both Missouriplants.com and the Connecticut Botanical Society display images of white-flowered versions of this species.
A number of references note that this parasitic species saps nutrients from plants in the Saxifragaceae, Asteraceae and the genus Sedum. I don't recall seeing Sedum or any saxifrages at this location, so I suspect in this case it was parasitizing Balsamorhiza. In the few occasions I've chanced upon this species, I've noted it to grow in areas of springtime wet followed by summertime dry, to the point where it could be considered a spring ephemeral. When Brent Hine and I returned to this location in mid-summer of the same year, there was no evidence of Orobanche uniflora to be found and the vegetation nearby was "crispy" from the summer heat. Given its broad distribution, however, I suspect that these particular conditions are not always the case.
Vascular Plants of Henry Coe State Park in California has a few more photographs: Orobanche uniflora.
Photography resource link: Not plant-related, but I suspect you'll enjoy the dendritic forms: Tom O. Scott's Sand Vision in Color (discovered via Richard Wong's Field Report weblog).
Have never seen this plant - though it's so small it could easily escape notice.
At last, a species I have seen locally (Cayuga Lake Basin in central NY). It was in flower from June 3 to 14, 2008. I have marked the location with a small metal sign, as it is in the Cornell Plantations Mundy Wildflower Garden, but I have not seen it reappear. There are plenty of Asteraceae in the area from which it might sap nutrients.
Thanks for the pointer to the Preserve! Always looking for a day-trip through a Conservancy acreage.
I've seen these flowers here and there in my travels up and down the California coast. Never knew they were parasitic.
And thanks for the photography link. Though I've never been there, the gallery representing the photographer is ten minutes from my house. I'll have to check it out. I highly recommend looking at his page of pics from Torrey Pines (State Park), also just down the road from me.
this little blue flower shows up
in the spring time in my space in time
i agree about the other links
i like the sand dunes very si fi
thank you daniel
Andrea Wolfe at Ohio State University has used this genus of parasitic plants in her investigation of the molecular evolution of photosynthesis in green plants. Check out the link to her lab page: http://www.biosci.ohio-state.edu/~awolfe/Lab/Lab.html. Since these plants do not have to reply on photosynthesis for nutrient acquisition, there have been some kind of interesting mutations in their chloroplast genomes.
A few of these were pointed out to me on a hike April 25th at Catherine Creek--a few yards from the highway. Hard to spot but a fascinating plant. Glad to see it featured!
So delicate and beautiful...
Uniflora indeed!!
O. uniflora yes, it does pop up here and there but so small and short-lived. Often found in CA-OR-WA with Sphagnum spp., Drosera rot.,Platanthera spp.in seepy areas.
I found a HUGE patch of these in an old community garden field overgrown with invasives and sprouting up in surviving patches of solidago. And when I say huge, I mean THOUSANDS of flowers. All of them almost pure white here in SE CT. They're so pretty.
This is the best image I've found yet for a flower I've fallen in love with. Some I've seen here in British Columbia are quite deep blue like this. What do people suspect them of parasitizing? One I've seen is in location with Montia parvifolia. Another batch were at subalpine elevation, which surprised me. (It was a very rich site botanically with all kinds of subalpine flowers) How does one figure out which species they're parasitizing.
People don't suspect them of being parasites, we know they are. Plants in this genus do not have chlorophyll and have underground connections with plants around them for their nutrient needs.
I always caution people that it's inappropriate to confuse the human societal definition of "parasite" with the botanical definition. Plants that parasitize on others are a part of the ecology web and should not be removed, especially when you encounter them in nature and not in a garden.
Just a small update -- seems like this species has been discovered in Manitoba in recent years.