Flora of Israel: Egyptian broomrape

Orobanche aegyptiaca, Phelypaea aegyptiaca, Egyptian broomrape,
Hebrew: עלקת מצרית, Arabic: هالوك مصري

Scientific name:   Orobanche aegyptiaca Pers.
Synonym name:   Phelypaea aegyptiaca (Pers.) Walpers
Common name:   Egyptian broomrape
Hebrew name:   עלקת מצרית
Arabic name:   هالوك مصري
Family:   Orobanchaceae, Broomrape family, עלקתיים


Life form:   Parasite
Stems:   15-50×0.4-0.6cm; usually branched
Leaves:   Alternate, scale
Inflorescence:   Spike very lax and flowers often remote
Flowers:   bracts shorter than calyx; corolla 20-35mm, Violet; lobes of the lower lip broadly ovate to orbicular, obtuse; filaments basally hairy; anthers basally and at suture numerous hairy.
Fruits / pods:   Capsule 6-7mm
Flowering Period:   February, March, April, May
Habitat:   Batha, Phrygana
Distribution:   Mediterranean Woodlands and Shrublands, Semi-steppe shrublands, Shrub-steppes, Deserts and extreme deserts, Montane vegetation of Mt. Hermon
Chorotype:   Irano-Turanian
Summer shedding:   Ephemeral


Derivation of the botanical name:

Orobanche, Greek orobos, a kind of vetch; anchone, choke, strangle; this was the Greek name of a plant that was parasitic on vetch.

aegyptiaca, Egyptian.
Phelypaea, honors Louis Phélypeaux (1643–1727), marquis de Phélypeaux (1667), comte de Maurepas (1687), comte de Pontchartrain (1699), known as the chancellor de Pontchartrain, a French politician, and his son Jérôme Phélypeaux (1674 – 1747), both having materially aided Joseph Pitton de Tournefort (1656 – 1708), a French botanist, in his scientific work and travels.
broomrape, broom +‎ rape, part translation of species name Orobanche rapum-genistae, where Latin rapum actually means turnip, not rape. Broomrape, any of various plants, of the genus Orobanche, that are parasitic on the roots of other plants.
The Hebrew name: Alkat, עלקת, is derived from the name of the parasitic animal leech, עלוקה, aluka.

  • The standard author abbreviation Pers. is used to indicate Christiaan Hendrik Persoon (1761 – 1836),a South African mycologist and botanist. Because of his financial difficulties, Persoon agreed to donate his herbarium to the House of Orange, in return for an adequate pension for life.
  • The standard author abbreviation Walp. is used to indicate Wilhelm Gerhard Walpers (1816 – 1853), a German botanist.

Egyptian broomrape seriously parasitizes sunflowers (Helianthus annuus L.)