Orobanche alba Stephan ex Willd.

Mokni, Ridha El, Domina, Gianniantonio & Barone, Giulio, 2023, New records of the genus Orobanche L. (Orobanchaceae) to the Tunisian flora with lectotypification of the name O. rapum-genistae Thuill., Adansonia (3) 45 (5), pp. 73-81 : 74

1. Orobanche alba Stephan ex Willd.

Species Plantarum, ed. 4, 3: 350 ( Willdenow 1800).

LECTOTYPE. — Designated by Piwowarczyk et al. 2019: 67, ( B [B-W11600 -03 0]!) .

GENERAL DISTRIBUTION. — The native range of this species extends from W Mediterranean to C Himalaya, SE Tibet to China (NW Sichuan) ( POWO 2022 -onward). In North Africa this species is already reported from Morocco and Algeria ( Dobignard & Chatelain 2013; APD 2022), this is its first record from Tunisia.

DISTRIBUTION IN TUNISIA. — Along the northern coast of Bizerta, Cap-Blanc (NE Tunisia).

HOSTS IN TUNISIA. — Collected on Thymbra capitata (L.) Cav. ( Fig.1 ).

HABITAT. — Calcareous loamy soils within coastal stony slopes.

FLOWERING PERIOD. — Early May to June.

SPECIMEN SEEN. — Tunisia. Bizerta-North (Bizerta), 37°19’57”N, 009°51’43”E, 15 m a.s.l., 9.V.2018, R. El Mokni s.n. (Herb. Univ. Monastir) .

Figures

FIG. 1. — Orobanche alba Willd. in north-eastern Tunisia: A, habit of a flowering plant in its natural habitat parasiting on Thymbra capitata (L.) Cav.; B, C, details of inflorescence and closed flowers. Photographs: R. El Mokni, 9.V.2018.