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Species
Information
- small
broomrape (hellroot)
- Orobanche
minor Sm.
- USDA
Symbol: ORMI
- Oregon
Noxious Weed Designation: B
- Pictures
Identification: Annual; blooms within a week of plant emergence. Grows 6 to 20 in tall. Lacks chlorophyll; has yellowish-brown unbranched stem with purplish tint. Leaves look like small triangular scales. Flowers pinkish, yellow or white in color and arranged in an elongated terminal cluster.
Impacts: Small broomrape is a parasitic plant. Upon germination, the first root attaches to and penetrates the root of the host plant, usually clover and other legumes, disrupting nutrients and water transport in the host root system. It has the ability to produce up to 500,000 seeds per plant that are dispersed by wind, tillage equipment, harvesters, commodity movement and animals. An uprooted flowering plant will continue to produce seed. Heavy infestations can cause severe crop damage that may result in nearly total crop failure. It is especially problematic in clover crops where the seeds are hard to detect or remove during inspections of harvested clover seed.
Biological
Controls: No approved biological control agent is available.
Oregon
Maps of Small Broomrape Distribution
Links:
USDA
Plants Database information on small broomrape
GRIN
Database information on small broomrape
Oregon Department
of Agriculture information on small broomrape
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