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Cistanche tubulosa
Desert hyacinth (Cistanche tubulosa) is a holoparasitic perennial that lacks chlorophyll and takes its nutrients and water from the roots of host plants in dry desert shrubland. It is not grown as a garden plant, so care depends on a suitable host plant rather than normal watering.
Cistanche tubulosa is a desert heterotrophic species in the genus Cistanche. It lacks chlorophyll and obtains nutrients and water from the host plants whose roots it parasitizes.
The plant is grown in the Taklamakan Desert, and is traditionally used for medicines and foods in China.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Cistanche tubulosa by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
