Orobanche indica Buchanan-Hamilton ex Roxburgh; Phelipaea aegyptiaca (Persoon) Walpers; P. indica (Buchanan-Hamilton ex Roxburgh) G. Don; Phelipanche aegyptiaca (Persoon) Pomel.

Herbs annual, 15-50 cm tall, glandular pubescent. Stems branched above middle. Leaves ovate-lanceolate, 8-10 X 2-4 mm, along with bracts, bractlets, calyx, and corolla densely glandular pubescent abaxially. Inflorescences spicate, 8-15 cm; bract ovate-lanceolate or lanceolate, 6-10 X 3-4 mm; bractlets linear, 6-10 mm. Flowers subsessile or short pedicelled. Calyx campanulate, 1-1.4 cm, 4- or 5-lobed to middle; lobes linear-lanceolate, 4-7 mm. Corolla blue-purple, 2-3.5 cm, suberect; tube ca. 2 cm; upper lip 2-lobed; lower lip longer than upper; lobes entire, white villous at margin. Pistil 2.2-2.6 cm; ovary ellipsoid. Style 1.8-2 cm, glandular pubescent; stigma 2-lobed, lobes semirounded. Capsule oblong, 0.8-1.2 cm X ca. 6 mm. Seeds long ovoid, 0.4-0.6 X ca. 0.2 mm. Fl. Apr-Jun, fr. Jun-Aug. 2n = 24.

Parasitic on Citrullus lanatus (Thunberg) Matsumura & Nakai, Cucumis melo Linnaeus, C. sativa Linnaeus, and Lycopersicon esculentum Miller.

Fields, gardens; 100-1400 m. Xinjiang [Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Kashmir, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Nepal, Pakistan, S Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan; N Africa, SW Asia].