A study published in the scientific journal PhytoKeys has revealed a new endemic plant species from some of the Canary Islands, including Lanzarote. This is the Orobanche andryalae and has "a distinct combination of morphological characteristics, ecology and specificity" with respect to other species of the same family.
The scientific article describes it with "a markedly drooping corolla, high insertion of filaments and different coloration that distinguishes Orobanche andryalae from closely related species with which it has been confused previously, and which are not found in the Canary Islands".
This species is found in thermophilic volcanic substrates in the north of Lanzarote, northwest of Tenerife and Jandía in Fuerteventura. They are holoparasites, so they lack functional leaves and other characteristics and many of the characters useful for identification, such as the stigma and the color of the corolla that are lost when they dry.
The Lanzarote plant has a markedly drooping corolla (more rarely geniculate) that is not seen in any other known species, as well as a distinct coloration and a high insertion of filaments.
For the study, between 2020 and 2023 the researchers observed plants in the field of Lanzarote, and then they were cultivated in 2023-2024 to ensure that the morphological characteristics were stable. The seeds were collected in a population near Haría and cultivated in the Oxford University Botanic Garden in 10 specimens in pots.
A total of 17 spikes of Orobanche andryalae emerged in April, four months after sowing, and each was measured and examined. Next, the specimens were compared with O. minor (which grows spontaneously in the Oxford University Botanic Garden) because it is the most widespread and common species in the Subsection Minores and coexists (at least in Lanzarote) with O. andryalae.
