Orobanche minor
Author: Ivan Lätti
Photographer: Francelle van Zyl
Kirstenbosch is overflowing with plants of numerous species deliberately produced there. Weeds arrive, unintended and unwanted, removed in accordance with a maintenance system.
A parasite like Orobanche minor may appear, attached to the root of another plant, unintended but probably not completely unwanted, as long as it does not multiply excessively, taking over among the deliberately added vegetation on display. This one was growing close to some yellow-flowering Asteraceae, probably cinerarias. Other plants were also growing close by, so the host plant is hard to identify without some digging (Visser, 1981; iNaturalist; Wikipedia).