Citation: L., Sp. Pl. 632 (1753).

Derivation: A Greco-Latin name for the dodder and probably also the broom-rapes, derived from the Greek orobos, vetch; ankhein, to strangle.

Synonymy: Not Applicable

Common name: Broomrapes.

Description: Not Available

Distribution:  About 140 species, only 1 native to Australia, with 1, possibly 2, naturalised.

Biology: O. ramosa L., Sp. Pl. 633 (1753), a native of southern Europe, was recorded by J. Black (1912) Trans. R.Soc. S. Aust. 36:25 under its synonym O. mutelii F. Schultz, collected from sandhills near Glenelg probably in about 1911. It differs from our native species by its shorter, more slender, often branched stems, bibracteolate flowers and 4 subequal calyx teeth with a fifth much smaller one. Although referred to by J. Black in his Floras, the absence of further records indicates that the species is unlikely to have survived. O. minor Smith (1797), in Sowerby, Engl. Bot. 6:t. 4222, another European species, is naturalised in most other States and New Zealand but as yet is not known from S. Aust.

Taxonomic notes: Coloration of the style and corolla is important for separating species but is poorly documented in Australia.

Author: Not yet available