broomrape

American  

[broom-reyp, broom-] / ˈbrumˌreɪp, ˈbrʊm- /

noun

1. any of various parasitic plants, especially of the genus Orobanche, living on the roots of broom and other plants.

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broomrape British  

/ ˈbrʊm-, ˈbruːmˌreɪp /

noun

1. any orobanchaceous plant of the genus Orobanche : brownish small-flowered leafless parasites on the roots of other plants, esp on legumes

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Etymology

Origin of broomrape

1570–80; partial translation of Medieval Latin rāpum genistae tuber of the broom plant

Example Sentences

Probing naked broomrape’s common and Latin names rapidly leads down the rabbit hole of the arcane.

From New York Times

The short version of the story is that “broomrape” is the partially translated 16th-century name of a genus of plants, Genista: European plants called brooms.

From New York Times

Ferment these oral ingredients in the cask of time and the result is the hideous common name, naked broomrape.

From New York Times

The plant bears some of the least attractive common names in the plant kingdom: Some know it as naked broomrape.

From New York Times

Last October, researchers at Pennsylvania State University reported that a broomrape plant had absorbed its host's genes 52 times.

From Washington Post