Broomrapes

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A type of parasitic plant belonging to the family Orobanchaceae, that derives nutrients from its host plants without performing photosynthesis
2. These flowering plants are known for their unique habit of attaching to other plants to extract water and nutrients, lacking chlorophyll for photosynthesis
3. Characterized by their dependence on host plants, these flowering species survive by parasitizing and draw sustenance from them, rather than relying on sunlight for energy

Etymology: The plant's name is a sort of botanical joke. Its scientific name, "Orobanche rapum-genistae," was built from Latin "rapum," meaning turnip, and "genista," meaning broom, the shrub the plant preys on. English took the second half and turned it into "broom" plus "rape," so a plant that grows on broom and looks like a bulbous root gets named for a turnip. The English word is a partial calque, meaning it copies the Latin sense of the name rather than its exact form. "Rape" here has nothing to do with the crime; it is the old word for the turnip, which also gave us "rapeseed," the crop whose oil comes from the same family of plants. Dutch has a close counterpart, "bremraap," built on the same pattern. Since "broomrapes" is simply the plural of "broomrape," it refers to several of these parasitic plants, each of which has no green leaves to make food and instead draws nutrients from the roots of its host.