Aeginetia sinensis ("Onanbangiseru")

Japanese name: オオナンバンギセル （大南蛮煙管）
Scientific name: Aeginetia sinensis

[Overview]
An annual parasitic plant found in mountain grasslands.
It has no chlorophyll; it parasitizes the roots of monocots such as those in the sedge and grass families, and grows on nutrients absorbed from the host's roots.
In Japan it parasitizes Susuki, Himenogariyasu, Shibasuge and others.
The whole plant is hairless, and the stem is very short and hardly emerges above ground.
The leaves are triangular and scale-like, and are borne sparsely on the stem.
Flower stalks about 20–30 cm long emerge from the leaf axils, each bearing a single flower at its tip.
The flowers open sideways; they are thick and tubular, 4–6 cm long, with the tip shallowly divided into 5 lobes, and pale reddish purple.
The margins of the corolla lobes have fine teeth.
The calyx is 3–5 cm long and sheath-like, and its tip is not pointed as in Nanban-giseru.
The fruit is a globose capsule containing many fine, powdery seeds.

[Cultivation]
Propagate from seed.
The seeds germinate and send out roots when they attach to the roots of the host plant they parasitize, so expose the host's roots, sow the seeds in winter to spring, and then replace the soil.
Cultivation follows the growing conditions of the host.
There are no particular pests or diseases.

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