Lathraea squamaria
Lathraea squamaria
Gizliot
Perennial, drying black, with a sturdy simple flowering stem, 15-30 cm, pinkish above, glabrous or with glandular and eglandular hairs. Scale leaves alternate, suborbicular, sessile, to 10 x 13 mm. Inflorescence a many-flowered, ± dense, spike-like, secund raceme. Bracts ovate, 9-12 x 8-10 cm. Pedicels 5-6 mm, ± spreading. Calyx c. 10 mm, expanding in fruit; tube c. 6 mm; lobes triangular-ovate, 4-5 mm. Corolla whitish to crimson or dark purple, 11-17 mm; tube 7-11 mm, cylindrical; lobes subequal, scarcely divergent. Capsule ovoidsubglobose, c. 10 x 9 mm, acuminate. Fl. 3-5. Parasitic on roots of Platanus, Corylus, Picea, Rhododendron, Ostrya, Alnus, etc., 100-1700 m.
N., W., S. & C. Europe, C. & S. Russia, Caucasia, Pakistan, Himalayas. EuroSib. element.
