New Discovery!

I discovered a completely new plant in my garden bed this week, one I had not planted myself. It is, in fact, a plant one cannot deliberately plant or transplant since it is parasitic and requires a complex set of conditions to get its seeds to germinate. The seeds start growing when they detect the chemical signature from a host plant! For real, this is not science fiction - the seeds remain dormant in the soil for years until the conditions are exactly right.

This is what the broomrape, or cancer root, (Orobanche uniflora) looks like

Its stems are pretty anemic-looking but that is because the plant doesn't have chlorophyll to photosynthesize for itself. It relies on nearby plants in the aster, goldenrod and saxifrage families for nourishment - its roots attach to the roots of the host from which it gleans its food. This process also depends on certain fungi being present to enable it to draw nutrients from the host.

   

Wow! Pretty complicated, but so interesting! And I'm so excited to have this exotic(!) North American native pop up in my garden. It feels like a compliment.

I'm thrilled!