Broomrapes of the World, ChrisThorogood, RenataPiwowarczyk, FredRumsey, GianniantonioDomina, Published in 2026 by Kew Publishing, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. 624 pages, illustrated throughout. ISBN 978‐1‐84246‐851‐7 e‐ ISBN 978‐1‐84246‐852‐4.

Broomrapes of the World is a joyous celebration of the holoparasitic members of the Orobanchaceae, whose diversity is revealed here in full and quite glorious colour.If one is only familiar with the dull brown (though look closer!) of Orobanche minor, for example, the richness of floral colours found in the genera covered here, ranging from Aeginetia to Phelypaea, will come as a revelation (though there are certainly some little brown jobs, including the last entry, Xylanche himalaica).It is probably incorrect to consider this the culmination of a long obsession with these fascinating plants by Chris Thorogood, the lead author, and his colleagues, as there is surely a great deal more to do, but it is a milestone along the way.The current volume is the first ever to consider this group of plants together as a global entity and, as such, is a significant work.In the past few decades phylogenetic work has led to the inclusion in Orobanchaceae of many holo-or hemiparasitic genera formerly placed in Scrophulariaceae, greatly expanding its scope to include 102 genera and over 2100 species.The majority of these are hemiparasites, including the familiar temperate Rhinanthus and tropical crop-pest Striga, but 19 genera and c. 320 species from three different clades are holoparasites, lacking chlorophyll.These are the subject of this book: the authors take the broad view that broomrape as a vernacular name can cover all of these, rather than restricting it in the traditional sense to Orobanche and its 'splits' Aphyllon and Phelipanche.The systematics of these plants and potential alternative generic circumscriptions are covered in the introduction.