Family: Orobanchaceae

Synonyms: Phelipanche ramosa (L.)Pomel

Common names: Hemp broomrape, Yerba sosa.

An annual plant quite similar to O. aegyptiaca. It also has a branched stem up to 40 cm tall. It has pale to bright blue flowers up to 2 cm long. Flowers have a bract and two bracteoles.

It reproduces by seeds. A single plant may produce more than 40 fruits and each fruit may have more 1200 seeds. Seed will only germinate in the presence of moisture, root exudates and warm soil temperature.

The biology of this weed is very similar to the one described for O. aegyptiaca. Conditions for growth are nearly the same as quoted for O. aegyptiaca.

There are two sub species of O. ramosa: ramosa and mutelii. The diferences between both are small and it is mainly related to the corolla's length. O. ramosa parasites various solanaceous crops, among them tobacco, tomato, potato, pepper and eggplant. Other affected crops are linseed, rapeseed and cabbage. It is also a parasite of some wild species, such as Datura stramonium, Parthenium hysterophorus and Amaranthus spp.

It is well distributed in the Mediterranean bassin, the Near East, USA, Mexico, Cuba and Chile. The same control measures indicated for O. aegyptiaca are applicable for O. ramosa control.

Countries: Algeria, Chile, Cyprus, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Jordan, Lebanon, Sudan, Syria, Turkey

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