Orobanchaceae

Orobanchaceae, the broomrapes, is a family of mostly parasitic plants of the order Lamiales, with about 90 genera and more than 2000 species. Roucongrong (Herba Cistanche), the dried succulent stems of the Cistanche plants (Orobanchaceae) the so-called ‘Ginseng of the deserts’, has been considered a superior tonic and used for the treatment of kidney deficiency, impotence, and female infertility, morbid leucorrhea, profuse metrorrhagia, and senile constipation.