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Red Thumb/Tarthuth
Cynomorium coccineum
28.7638, 33.7857
Field Notes
Description:
"The plant has no chlorophyll and is unable to photosynthesise. It is a geophyte, spending most of its life underground, in the form of a rhizome, which is attached to the roots of its host plant; it is a holoparasite, i.e. totally dependent on its host. The low-growing inflorescence emerges (in spring, following winter rain), on a fleshy, unbranched stem (most of which is underground) with scale-like, membranous leaves. Dark-red or purplish, the inflorescence consists of a dense, erect, club-shaped mass, some 15–30 cm long, of minute scarlet flowers, which may be male, female or hermaphrodite. It is pollinated by flies, attracted to the plant by its sweet, slightly cabbage-like odour. Once pollinated the spike turns black. The fruit is a small, indehiscent nut." ~wiki
Habitat:
desert mountain, about 1500 m elevation; the region received a lot of rain this winter
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