Orobanche gigantea (Beck) Gontsch; O. kotschyi Reuter var. gigantea Beck.

Herbs biennial or perennial, 30-60 cm tall, densely white villous. Stems erect. Leaves lanceolate, 1-1.5 cm X ca. 5 mm, upper ones densely white villous. Inflorescences spicate, 10-20 cm; bract lanceolate, 1.5-2 cm, apex acuminate, along with calyx densely white villous; bractlets absent. Calyx 1-1.2 cm, 2-parted to base; segments 2-lobed halfway; lobes linear-lanceolate, 5-7 mm. Corolla pale yellow or ?blue-purple, 2-2.5 cm; tube slightly enlarged, middle part distinctly constricted, enlarged and strongly curved upward, sparsely pubescent abaxially, glabrescent adaxially; upper lip entire or emarginate; lobes elliptic, subequal, margin sinuate or dentate. Filaments 1-1.2 cm, base pubescent; anthers oblong, 1.8-2 mm, densely white villous. Ovary oblong-ellipsoid. Style 1.2-1.4 cm, sparsely pubescent or glabrous; stigma 2-lobed. Capsule oblong, 1-1.4 cm. Seeds ovoid-ellipsoid, 0.3-0.5 mm. Fl. May-Jul, fr. Jul-Sep.

Parasitic on species of the Apiaceae.

It is not clear if Orobanche gigantea should be reduced to the synonymy of O. kotschyi.

Slopes; ca. 600 m. N Xinjiang [Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan; SW Asia].