Orobanche ludoviciana Nutt.

Parasitic on many kinds of plants, especially Artemisia and other Asteraceae; plants 1–3 dm, simple or rarely branched, with numerous appressed scale-lvs; spikes many-fld, dense, forming 1/3 to 2/3 of the shoot; fls mostly sessile or the lower on erect pedicels to 15 mm; cal subtended by (1)2 bractlets, as well as by a bract, bilabiate, the upper lip with a single lobe, the lower with 4; cal-lobes linear, 8–12 mm; cor often purplish, 1.5–2.5 cm; 2n=24, 48, 72, 96. Chiefly in sandy soil; Ill. and Ind. to Sask. and Tex., w. to Calif. and n. Mex. June–Aug. Our plants are var. ludoviciana. (Myzorrhiza l.)

Grows on sandy soils on the plains where it is parasitic on the roots of Ambrosia spp and other members of the Compositae. It is found below 1200 metres in California.

The young sprouts are covered with ashes and baked and the lower part eaten.

Can be grown by seedlings.