Distribution and Host Range of Parasitic Flowering Plants of Saudi Arabia. A Review

Abstract

Distribution and host range of more than thirty species and infraspecific taxa of parasitic flowering plants belonging to seven families in six phytogeographical regions of Saudi Arabia are reviewed. Most of these parasitic flowering plants specially members of Loranthaceae, Orobanchaceae and Scrophulariaceae are confined to the Southern Region. None of the studied parasitic flowering plants were found to occur in the Empty Quarter (Al-Rub Al-khali desert) with the exception of the root parasite Cistanche phelypaea (Orobanchaceae), which was found parasitizing the perennial members of Chenopodiaceae and Zygophyllaceae.