Cistanche phelypaea

Family: Orobanchaceae

What it is like

It grows attached to other plants. A stout erect plant. It is hairless and keeps growing from year to year. The stems are thick and often fattened near the base. The leaves are like scales and oval to sword shaped. They are thin and have teeth. The flowers are bright, shiny yellow. They are 30-40 mm long and in dense cone like spikes. The calyx has 5 lobes. The corolla has 5 or more lobes.

Where it is found

It is a Mediterranean climate plant. It grows on woody members of the Chenopodiaceae family. It grows in dry sandy coastal and inland sites in the Sahel in West Africa. It cannot tolerate frost. It can grow in salty soils. It grows between sea level and 1,500 m above sea level. It can grow in arid places.

Countries/locations it is found in

Africa, Benin, Cape Verde, East Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Europe, Italy, Kenya, Kuwait, Mali, Mauritania, Mediterranean, Middle East, Morocco, Mozambique, Niger, North Africa, Portugal, Sahara, Sahel, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Socotra, Somalia, Spain, Sudan, Tanzania, Turkey, Türkiye, West Africa

How it is used for food

The plant is used in soups. The root tubers are also eaten by baking over coals.

Edible parts

Leaves, root, young stem, vegetable

How it is grown

The young plants can be stored by burying in the sand beneath a layer of Aristida pungens grass until they blacken and become dry. It is then ground.

Its other names

Local names

Cistanche, Danun, Halouk, Orobanche d'Africa, Tartous

Synonyms

Cistanche allochroa Chiov.; Cistanche lutea Hoffm. & Link; Cistanche tinctoria; Cistanche tubulosa (Schenk) Hook. f.; Lathraea phelypaea L.; Orobanche tinctoria; Phelipaea lutea Desf.; Phelipaea tubulosa Schenk;