Broomrape thingy...id?

[Llamas]

Awful name, so sorry for anyone else who also cringes.

I found this on a walk today. Intense consultation with my copy of Francis Rose isn't shedding as much light as I might have hoped. Any wildflower buffs able to decipher which broomrape this is? The only thing Francis is telling me it could be is found in Yorkshire, and living in the Southdowns of deepest Hampshire, I've not a great amount of faith in my interpretation of the key.

[Martin H]

Could you see what it might be feeding on? Obviously you couldn't dig it up and find out for certain what roots it was attached to...

[Llamas]

No, it wasn't totally clear. There were thistles, ivy and all sorts growing around it. It looks like a dark version of ox-tounge broomrape. Ish. Though expirence tells me it's much more likely to just be a variable form of the common broomrape. Blaugh.

Having once found a lady's slipper orchid on Long Island in New York, I'm forever hearing zebras instead of horses.

Many thanks though Martin H!

[Martin H]

Like you I expect, Llamas, I spent quite a bit of time g00gling images to try and find a good match. I failed, obviously. In form it looks most like the common broomrape, but the yellow-ish throats of the flowers aren't typical. I couldn't find any references to variability of the species and so I gave up.

[Starling]

We don't have this in Australia.

I've got to say....broomrape sounds, prima facie, like the worst thing in the world...

[bearded bloke]

Ivy Broomrape possibly .............

Ivy Broomrape - Orobanche hederae | NatureSpot