Portugal: Sintra – Ivy Broomrape at Montserrat Gardens

While roaming around the Montserrat Botanical Gardens we stumbled on wild chlorophyl-less orchids growing wild in shaded areas under tree. Except it turned out to be not orchids at all but rather plants from a completely different family, mimicking orchids to an amazing similarity. These are Ivy Broomrape (Orobanche hederae), a complete parasitic plant living only in the roots of English Ivy (Hedera helix) trees. Unlike some orchids that live in symbiosis with underground fungus, these guys are true parasites through and through – taping the tree roots directly and sucking out all the nutrients. The plant looks almost 100% like Bird’s Nest orchid – and it is a prime example of convergent evolution: two completely unrelated species evolving to look nearly identical to solve the same problem of parasitic lifestyle.