OBOBANCHE OROBANCHACE^E 541 



THALESTA 



1 OROBANCHE L. Sp. 632. (1753.) 



Glandular-pubescent reddish yellowish violet or nearly white 

 herbs, parasitic on the roots of various plants, with scattered scales 

 and spicate or racemose bracted and sometimes bracteolate flowers. 

 Calyx split both above and below nearly or quite to the base, the 

 divisions 2-clet't or rarely entire, or more or less unequally 2-5- 

 toothed. Corolla oblique, strongly bilabiate: upper lip erect, 

 emarginate or 2-lobed: lower lip spreading, o-lobed. Stamens 

 not exserted : anther-cells mostly mucronate at the base. Pla- 

 centa? equidistant or approximate in pairs. Style slender, usually 

 persistent until after the dehiscence of the capsule : stigma pel- 

 tate to funnelform, entire or laterally 2-lamellate. 



0. comosa Hook. Fl. ii, 93. Aphyllon comosum Gray. Puberulent: 

 stems stout, 2-4 inches high, branching close to the ground: scales rather 

 few, oblong-ovate to lanceolate: flowers corymbose or paniculate-racemose, 

 on stout pedicels 4-8 lines long : bractlets one or two, on the pedicels or 

 sometimes at the base of the flower: calyx deeply 5-parted; lobes subulate- 

 linear and attenuate, 6-10 lines long : corolla pink or pale purple, an inch 

 or more long; upper lip barely spreading, obtuse; lower lip acutely 3-too- 

 thed, spreading: anthers woolly: capsule oblong, obtuse, 6 lines long: 

 seeds very numerous, yellowish. On dry hills, eastern Washington to 

 California. 



0. Califoruica Cham. & Schlect. Linn, in, 134. Aphyllon Californi- 

 cum Gray Pubescent with short hairs and viscid : stems stout, 8-10 

 inches high : flowers crowned in an oblong dense raceme or thyrsus : 

 pedicels shorter than the calyx : bractlets close to the caly^x, linear-lanceo- 

 late : calyx deeply 5-parted, the subulatelinear lobes 6-10 lines long : corolla 

 yellowish or purplish, but little longer than the calyx its short oblong 

 lobes barely spreading: anthers glabrous or slightly hairy. Sandy places, 

 Oregon to California and Nevada. 



0. pinetorum Geyer. Hook. Kew Journ. Bot. iii, 297. Aphyllon 

 pinetorum Gray. Pubescent with short whitish hairs : stems rather slen- 

 der above the thickened tuber-like base, 6-12 inches high : flowers subsessile 

 or short pedicelled, in a long and rather loose panicle: calyx 2-bracteolate 

 at base, deeply 5-cleft, ihe lobes subulate from a broad base, not longer 

 than the tube:* corolla yellowish, 6 lines long: anthers glabrous : capsule 

 oblong, obtuse, 4 lines long, exceeding the calyx. On the roots of conifer- 

 ous trees, Oregon to Brit. Columbia. 



2 THALESIA Raf. Am. Month. Mag. ii, 267. (1818.) 

 APHYLLON Gray Man. 290. (18*48.) 



Glandular or viscid-pubescent herbs, parasitic on the roots of 

 various plants, with scattered scales, and long-peduncled yellow- 

 ish white or violet complete and perfect bractless flowers. Calyx 

 nearly equally 5-cleft, the lobes acute or 'acuminate. Corolla ob- 

 lique: the tube elongated, curved: the limb slightly bilabiate, the 

 upper lip erect-spreading, 2-lobed: the lower lip spreading, 3-lob- 

 ed, the lobes all nearly equal. Stamens included: anther-cells 

 mucronate at the base. Ovary ovoid: placentae equidistant or 

 contiguous in pairs. Style slender, deciduous : stigma peltate, or 

 transversely bilamellate. 



