OROBAXCIIACEJE. 101 
Stem branched, rarely single. Flowers ascending, in a rather 
lax spike. Lowest bract of each flower ovate-lanceolate, shorter 
than the calyx ; lateral ones smaller, lanceolate-subulate. Calyx 
divided to the middle into 4 broadly lanceolate segments acumi- 
nated into subulate points, shorter than the tube of the corolla, 
each segment with a strong mid-vein and 1 or more pairs of 
indistinct lateral veins. Corolla twice as long as the calyx, with 
the tube curved in the upper half, contracted above the base a 
little below the termination of the calyx-segments, then again 
expanded ; upper lip bilobed, with the lobes rounded ; under lip 
3-lobed, with the lobes oval, obtuse. Stamens inserted a little 
below the contraction in the corolla-tube ; filaments pubescent at 
the base ; anthers glabrous, or nearly so, at the sutures. Stigma 
" white or slightly bluish " (Coss. & Germ.). 
Parasitical on the roots of hemp, and occasionally other plants, 
such as sunflower, knotgrass, tomata, archangelica, and tobacco, 
&c. Very rare, and not, strictly speaking, even naturalized in 
Britain. It has occurred principally in Norfolk, Suffolk, and 
Cambridge. It has not been found recently. 
I have not seen living specimens of this species. 
[England.] Annual. Summer and Autumn. 
Stem slender, 3 inches to 1 foot high, generally with a few 
branches towards the base, rarely simple, whitish or tinged with 
blue, nearly destitute of scales, except where the branches are 
given off. Flowers \ to f inch long, " yellowish-white commonly 
tinged with blue on the upper part " (Coss. & Germ.). Plant glan- 
dular pubescent, especially above. 
Branched Broom-rape. 
French, Orobanche Rameuse. German, Astiger Sommerwurz. 
The different species of Broora-rape are probably much alike in quality, and have 
been given as a remedy in diarrhoea and other disorders. An infusion has been used 
as a wash for ulcers, but is not now much employed. The habit of these plants is very 
singular ; they are truly parasitic, and derive no sustenance from the soil. Each 
species has its favourite plant on which to subsist, and ultimately to kill. The present 
species attacks the I'oots of the hemp, and is most destructive to the crops. 
SPECIES II.— OROBANCHE ARENARIA. Borh. 
Plate MVIII. 
Reich. Ic. Fl. Germ, et Helv. Vol. XX. Tab. MDCCLXVI. 
Phelipaea arenaria, Walp. Gr. & Godr. FL de Fr. Vol. II. p. 625. Reich, fl. 1. c. p. 86 
Renter, in D. C. Prod. Vol. XI. p. 6. 
