Family: broomrapes (Orobanchaceae)
Flowering time: July–August
Size: 20–30 cm
Habitat: on the margins of beech forests
The brownish-yellow, upright stem of the sage broomrape (Orobanche salviae) is simple, i.e., unbranched. Its inflorescence is already somewhat elongated at the start of flowering. The flowers are initially yellow, then brown. They are 12 to 23 mm long. The corolla tube is curved along its entire length, and the lower-lip lobes are covered with long glandular hairs. The pollen filaments are attached to the corolla tube below the middle of the tube; in the upper part they are bare or only sparsely clothed with glandular hairs. The pistil is yellow, glabrous to sparsely glandular-haired. The sage broomrape parasitizes the sticky sage (Salvia glutinosa).
The broomrapes have developed a parasitic lifestyle, as indicated by the absence of chlorophyll in these plants. The sage broomrape has specialized in attaching to sticky sage, and therefore always occurs together with it. Most often it is found on the margins of beech forests in the mountainous belt, where the soils are fresh and relatively rich in nitrogen.
In Slovenia it is not common, as to date it has been found at fewer than 10 locations in its southwestern, northern and eastern parts.
