Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: Orobanche uniflora

Not the best quality (macro) photo of this tiny flower, but it is so rare to come across it in the city. A tiny cluster of it was found in Weaselhead. I think I have the correct ID and that it is not the Clustered Broomrape. "As they have no chlorophyll, they are totally dependent on other plants for nutrients. Broomrape seeds remain dormant in the soil, often for many years, until stimulated to germinate by certain compounds produced by living plant roots. Broomrape seedlings put out a root-like growth, which attaches to the roots of nearby hosts. Once attached to a host, the broomrape robs its host of water and nutrients. Orobanche uniflora, commonly known as one-flowered broomrape, cancer root,, ghost pipe or naked broomrape, is an annual parasitic herb. It is native to much of North America, where it is a parasitic plant, tapping nutrients from many other species of plants, including those in the Asteraceae and Saxifragaceae families and in the genus Sedum. It grows to a height of five centimeters, and has yellowish-white or purple flowers, that can be up to 3.5 centimeters long. The flowers grow singly on tall stalks." From Wikipedia.

I saw this plant for the very first time yesterday evening, on a Summer Solstice botany walk out at Bow Valley Provincial Park. The park is right at the foot of the most eastern edge of the mountains - a beautiful wetland area. This plant has a single whitish, yellowish or purplish flower, 15-25 mm long, on each stem. These are parasitic plants, attaching themselves to the roots of other plants because they lack chlorophyll and cannot produce their own food through photosynthesis. Also called One-flowered Cancer Root. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------