Cistanche phelypaea

Cistanche phelypaea is a chlorophyll-free, obligate parasitic plant with stout fleshy flowering stems bearing bright yellow flowers and rising to 20–50 cm (7.9–19.7 in) tall from a generally swollen base. The stem is glabrous and yellow to purple gray. Leaves are ovate-lanceolate, obtuse, glabrous and normally brown in color. Inflorescence is dense, more or less cylindrical. Flower crown is broadly campanulate-obconic, strongly curved, bright yellow, sometimes light purple, and glabrous. It has white stigmatic lobes. 2n = 40; n = 20. It parasites roots of Chenopodiaceae bushes. The plant is used a food source and is eaten similar to asparagus.

Cistanche phelypaea inhabits saline, sandy, mainly coastal zones but also inland sites from sea level up to 600 m (2,000 ft) altitude. In West Asia it occupies Syria, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, Yemen, Soqotra; in Africa, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Sudan, Egypt, Chad, Libya, Niger, Algeria, Tunisia, Mali, Senegal, Mauritania, Western Sahara, Morocco; in Southern Europe, Cyprus, Crete, Spain, Portugal; in Macaronesia, Cape Verde, Canary Islands, Savage Islands and Madeira. It has also been introduced in Mozambique and France.

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