The broomrapes, the Orobanchaceae, are curious plants – as they’re unable to produce their own chlorophyll they get it by parasitising the roots of other plants. Until last week, I had only ever seen Ivy broomrape (Orobanche hederae) but, on my way to Grangemoor Park for a meander, growing amongst wildflowers along a road verge, I found another of the nine native species of broomrape in Britain. This strange beauty is Common broomrape (Orobanche minor), which most often taps in to the roots of members of the pea family (the Fabaceae) and the daisy family (the Asteraceae), but will also parasitise many other plant species.