Cistanche tubulosa
Table of Contents
Cistanche tubulosa
Vernacular
Soz Gul
Family
Description
Yellowish to yellow-brown, fleshy herb, (15-) 30-60 (-150) cm tall, often with a purplish tinge, simple, erect, glabrous to puberulous, often broader (up to 5 cm) at the base. Scales (1-) 2-3 (-4) cm long, (7-) 10-15 (-20) mm broad, triangular to broadly linear, acute. Bract oblong-lanceolate, often purplish, acuminate, slightly longer than the calyx; bracteoles shorter than the calyx, narrow, linear to sublanceolate. Calyx 14-18 mm long, including lobes c. 1/3 as long as the tube; lobes laterally overlapping, with a rounded apex and membranous margins. Corolla 3-5 cm long, 1.5-2 cm broad at the mouth, much narrower and tubular below, usually yellowish with purplish lobes, rarely whitish; lobes short, subrounded, entire, reflexed. Staminal filaments woolly at base; anthers densely hairy, usually rounded or blunt at the ends. Capsules 20-25 mm long, ovoid-oblong, laterally compressed, beaked, many-seeded; seeds c. 1 mm long, pitted, dark-colored.
A fairly constant species except for the flower color which varies from purplish-yellow to almost white.
Cistanche tubulosa is a holoparasitic desert plant species in the genus Cistanche. The plant lacks chlorophyll and obtains nutrients and water from the host plants whose roots it parasitizes.
Distribution
N. Africa, Arabia, W. Asia to Pakistan, India and C. Asia.
Courtesy
Flora of Balochistan – Pakistan
Flora of Pakistan
Wikipedia
