Foothills, montane. Openings, shrublands, woodlands. Summer.
Lone Mesa State Park, June 11, 2008.

This is a common Orobanchaceae parasitic usually on Sagebrush but also on various Salt Bushes and other plants in Pinyon/Juniper forests.  It can grow to about six inches tall but is more typically only one-to-four inches tall.  

This plant was collected by Thomas Nuttall "in sandy alluvial soils, around Fort Mandan" [quotation from Intermountain Flora] in 1811 or 1812 and was named Orobanche fasciculata by Nuttall in his 1818 Genera of North American Plants.  Weber prefers the 1856 name of Aphyllon fasciculatum given by Torrey and Gray.

Foothills, montane. Openings, shrublands, woodlands. Summer.
Lone Mesa State Park, June 11, 2008.

Foothills, montane. Openings, shrublands, woodlands. Summer.
Lone Mesa State Park, August 1, 2009.

A dead and dried Aphyllon fasciculatum shows how its root surrounds a root of its host, Seriphidium novum.  See the next photograph for a close-up view.

Foothills, montane. Openings, shrublands, woodlands. Summer.
Lone Mesa State Park, August 1, 2009.

Range map © John Kartesz,
Floristic Synthesis of North America

State Color Key

Species present in state and native
Species present in state and exotic
Species not present in state

County Color Key

Species present and not rare
Species present and rare
Species extirpated (historic)
Species extinct
Species noxious
Species exotic and present
Native species, but adventive in state
Eradicated
Questionable presence

Range map for  Aphyllon fasciculatum (Orobanche fasciculata)