Cistanche violacea (Desf.) Hoffmanns & Link, 1813

Ben-Natan, Dar & Thorogood, Chris, 2025, A revision of the genus Cistanche (Orobanchaceae) in Israel, and considerations for its taxonomic circumscription in the Middle East, PhytoKeys 260, pp. 213-236 : 213-236

Cistanche violacea (Desf.) Hoffmanns & Link

≡ Phelypaea violacea Desf. , Fl. Atlant. 2: 60, t. 146 (1798) [basionym].

≡ Orobanche violacea (Desf.) Wallr. , Orob. Gen. 70 (1825).

≡ Cistanche violacea (Desf.) Beck , Biblioth. Bot. 19: 267 (1890), comb. superfl.

Description.

A holoparasitic (achlorophyllous), glabrous herb. Plant robust, 10–80 cm, stem white to grey or purple, 10–20 mm in diameter, swollen at the base. Lower scales dense, constricted, entire, triangular, yellowish-white to dark grey, 5–10 × 5–10 mm. Middle and upper scales and floral bracts triangular-lanceolate, entire, scarious and strongly serrate along the margins, white or lilac to purple or dark purplish-brown, 7–15 × 15–30 mm. Inflorescence a dense spike, up to 30 cm long, 5–15 cm in diameter. Floral bracts about as long as calyx or somewhat longer. Floral bracteoles 2, linear or lanceolate, obtuse, 2–6 × 10–22 mm, white, grey or purple, scarious and serrate along the margins, attached to the calyx base and equal or slightly shorter than calyx. Calyx tubular-campanulate, white, lilac, purple or purplish-brown, 10–22 mm. Calyx lobes 5, subequal, oblong-rounded, entire, scarious and serrate along the margins. The upper lobe is shorter than the rest by up to 3 mm. Corolla infundibuliform, pentamerous, 35–50 mm. Corolla tube white, with two well-pronounced, conspicuous yellow folds inside. Corolla tube arched beneath the middle. Inner tube more or less pubescent around the filament bases and glabrous elsewhere. Limb pale to deep purple-violet, 15–25 mm in diameter. Corolla lobes 5, rounded, equal or the upper ones slightly smaller than the other 3, usually wider than long. Stamens 4, inserted at the base of the tube, included. Filaments 18–21 mm, densely pubescent at the base and very sparsely, very short-pubescent or glabrous above. Anthers 2–3 × 4.5–5.5 mm, densely pilose, acuminate. Ovary ovate, 5–10 × 10–15 mm, white with a yellow ring at base. Stigma lobes whitish or yellowish. Capsules ovoid-globose, 12–20 × 15–20 mm, dark brown when dry, dehiscent with 2 (- 3–4) valves. Fl. February-April.

Habitat and prevalence.

C. violacea occurs on alluvial gravel and clay substrates (mostly loess and marl) in wadies along the Rift Valley from the Dead Sea to Eilat, in the eastern and southern Judean desert and rarely in the central Negev, and on stabilized or shallow sands over chalk in the western Negev desert. It is fairly common, though much less than C. tubulosa , occurring often in mixed populations with the latter along the Rift Valley. Present also in SE Jordan (Dead Sea area, Arava Valley, Wadi Rum), and occasionally mistaken for C. salsa there as well.

Host.

Mostly Anabasis articulata (Forssk.) Moq. and Atriplex halimus L., more rarely observed on Haloxylon negevensis (Iljin & Zohary) L. Boulos. Other possible hosts include Tamarix nilotica (Erenb.) Bunge. and Anabasis setifera Moq. 1840 .

Notes.

Aside from coloration, C. violacea can be difficult to distinguish from C. tubulosa and C. tinctoria , which makes determination of dry herbarium specimen problematic. Moreover, in some mixed populations in the Rift Valley, morphological intermediates occur which are most likely hybrids of C. violacea and C. tubulosa (Fig. 5 I ), based on molecular work (in prep.). In the western Negev desert, however, populations appear to be distinct. Besides pigmentation and stature, the very well-pronounced yellow folds in the throat of the corolla and anther morphology proved to be important and useful diagnostic characteristics for C. violacea – especially in dry specimens, both in the field and the herbarium.

Specimens examined.

Israel • Judean desert, Massada, 7. April. 1942. Zohary D. ( HUJ 123604 !) ; Israel • Judean Desert, steppes, 4.1942, Issac Halevv ( HUJ 123663 !) ; Israel • Dead sea area, Wadi Fuqra ( Nahal Zin ), 18. March. 1967. Avishai M. ( HUJ 123601 !, HUJ 123602 !) ; Israel • Judean desert, east of Arad, small wadi , 11. April. 1967. Kollman F. ( HUJ 123600 !) ; Israel • Judean desert, btw. Mezad Zafit and Mezad Tamar , hard rock, 11. March. 1972. Zohary D. ( HUJ 123603 !) ; Israel • Western Negev, 10 km NNW from Nizzana, Nahal Lavan , sandy loess, 25. March. 1986. Danin A. ( HUJ 123612 !) ; Israel • Hatzeva field school , 13. March. 1997. Pazy B. and Plitmann U. ( HUJ 123606 !) ; Israel • Judean Desert, Nahal Metsada west of Metsada , 60 m, 21. February. 2012. Dar Ben-Natan ( TELA 2076 !) ; Israel • West Negev, near Shivta, on route 211 . Mar. 2015. ( HUJ 133888 !) ; Israel • Judean Desert, Arad to Dead Sea road , 280 m, parasite on Atriplex halimus L., together with C. tubulosa (Schenk) Wight ex Hook. f. and possible intermediate forms, 3. March. 2015. Dar Ben-Natan ( TELA 2077 !) Israel • northern Arava Valley, Idan reservoir , 180 m, together with C. tubulosa (Schenk) Wight ex Hook. f. and possible intermediate forms between the two species, 19. March. 2019. Dar Ben-Natan ( TELA 2072 !) ; Israel • western Negev desert, Nizzana, Han Nizzana yard , shallow sand over loam, coor 30°53'06.9"N, 34°25'29.3"E, 190 m, parasite on Anabasis articulata (Forssk.) Moq. 12. March. 2020. Dar Ben-Natan ( HUJ 133784 !) ; Israel • Dead Sea area, east of road 90, across from massada , white clay, together with C. tubulosa (Schenk) Wight ex Hook. f. , coor: 31°19'23.5"N, 35°23'11.3"E, - 380 m, some possibly parasitic on Anabasis setifera Moq. , some on Atriplex halimus L., containing fruiting capsules dehiscent by 3 and 4 valves, 7. May. 2021. Dar Ben-Natan ( TELA 2799 !) ; Israel • Dead Sea area, estuary of Nahal Rahaf, western side of road 90 , coor 31°17'14.9"N, 35°22'53.8"E, - 380 m, possibly parasitic on Atriplex halimus L., containing fruiting capsules dehiscent by 4 valves 7. May. 2021. Dar Ben-Natan ( TELA 27800 !) ; JORDAN, 40 km S of Ma’an. “ Nubian sand ” fields . 18. Apr. 1929. A. Eig and M. Zohary ( HUJ 123672 !) ; Sinai • Gebel el Tih, 110 km S. of Nakhl, Badlands of Ghareb formation at the foot of Igma Plateau , 22. November. 1969. N. Tadmor ( HUJ 123615 !) ; Sinai • w. foothills of Gebel Ya’allaq , wadi bed and terraces with variable sand cover of 0–50 cm, 20– 30. March. 1973. Corolla violet-white (not yellow), I. Noy-Meir ( HUJ 123617 !) ; Sinai • N. Sinai, Umm Qataf, 2 km north of Nizzana , sands covering limestone hill, 9. April. 1976. Avinoam Danin ( HUJ 123616 !) .

Figures

Figure 5. A – D. Stamens of C. mimii sp. nov., C. violacea, C. laxiflora, and C. tubulosa; E. C. violacea, Left to right - dissected calyx, bracteoles and bract (specimen from Nizzana); F. C. tubulosa, Left to right – bract, dissected calyx and bracteoles (specimen from Ein Saharonim); G. C. violacea near Ein Yahav (N. Arava Valley); H. 4 - valved dehiscent capsule of C. violacea (specimen from Nahal Mor, Dead Sea area); I. Putative Hybrid between C. tubulosa and C. violacea near Ein Yahav (N. Arava Valley); J. Habit of Cistanche tubulosa, parasitic on Atriplex halimus near Tzofar (Arava Valley); K. 4 - valved dehiscent capsule of C. tubulosa near Arad to Dead Sea road (Judean Desert); L. Habit C. tinctoria in Yotvata’s agricultural fields, parasitic on Tamarix aphylla.