Orobanche Linnaeus (1753: 632) Orobanche coerulescens Stephan

Piwowarczyk, Renata, Pedraja, Óscar Sánchez, Khutsishvili, Manana & Kharazishvili, Davit, 2023, Holoparasitic Orobanchaceae in Georgia (Caucasus): taxonomic revision, diversity, distribution, habitats and host range, Phytotaxa 604 (1), pp. 1-103 : 35

Genus Orobanche Linnaeus (1753: 632) .

Type:— Orobanche major L. (1753: 632), nom. rej. ( Jarvis et al. 1993: 71; Turland & Rumsey 1997: 787–789; Brummitt 2000: 263) [= O. caryophyllacea Sm. (1798: 169) ( Piwowarczyk et al. 2017b: 133)]

Herbs annual, biennial, or perennial, holoparasitic, achlorophyllous. Stem simple, with scattered scales. Flowers usually numerous, sessile or short-pedicellate, with one bract, bracteoles are absent. Calyx divided to the base into two lateral, entire or bidentate segments, rarely gamosepalous or campanulate. Corolla campanulate or tubular-campanulate, rarely tubular or infundibuliforum, bilabiate, upper lip 2-lobed, lower lip 3-lobed, usually brownish, reddish, yellowish, pinkish, very rarely blue or violet to whitish, with two, usually glabrous folds. Stamens 4 inserted in the lower parts of corolla tube, anthers glabrous or hairy. Ovary 1-locular, ovate or cylindrical, placentae 4. Style elongated, usually persistent, lateral opening, stigma 2-4-lobed, usually yellow, orange, red, brown or rarely whitish. Pollen usually inaperturate with granulate sculpture of the exine. Capsule ovoid-globose, or ellipsoid, dehiscing by two valves. Seeds numerous, small, oblongoid, ellipsoid, to globose, with reticulate testa with pitted ornamentation of the periclinal wall (after Piwowarczyk et al. 2019, modified).

About 150 species occur mostly in the northern hemisphere, in temperate regions of Europe, especially in the Mediterranean Basin, western and central Asia, and North Africa, naturalised in the rest of Africa, America and Oceania ( Orobanche s. str.). Parasitises roots of numerous and diverse host-species (after Piwowarczyk et al. 2019, modified). 1. Orobanche coerulescens Stephan in Willdenow (1800: 349) ( Turland et al. 2018: Art. 46.2 Note 2.