Pholisma arenarium

Plant: Annual or perennial (in ours) root parasites; STEMS 30-80 cm long, 1-2 cm in diameter, fleshy, underground, white or brownish Leaves: linear to narrowly triangular, scale-like, spirally arranged INFLORESCENCE: dense panicles or spikes Flowers: with calyx lobes linear to spathulate, puberulent with gland-tipped hairs less than 0.5 mm long; corolla lavender to bluish purple, the margin white, exterior minutely puberulent; locules of ovary 10-20 Fruit: FRUITS capsules with irregularly circumscissile dehiscence, covered by the persistent perianth. SEEDS 1 per locule, in a ring, more-or-less kidney-shaped, flat, brown Misc: Edges of sandy washes and adjacent, low, desert dunes; 100-250 m (400-900 ft); Mar.-May Notes: lacks chlorophyll; rare; usually parasitic on roots of Ambrosia dumosa (Compositae) in AZ, but elsewhere has been found on various other shrubby Compositae, and species of Croton (Euphorbiaceae) and Eriodictyon (Hydrophyllaceae) REFERENCES: Yatskievych. George. 1994. Lennoaceae. J. Ariz. - Nev. Acad. Sci. Volume 27(2), 220-221.