You may have seen this picture on Failblog: The intersection of Smoketree and Broomrape.Fascinated by the image, I decided that I had to find out whether this picture is genuine. If so, just where is Broomrape located?
Turns out there really is a quaint little rue called Broomrape, in Lake Havasu City, Arizona. I have no idea what was going through the minds of the people who named this street. It is actually a tiny cul-de-sac serving a mere five homes. The people who live in those houses can call themselves Broomrapers. Their children must raise eyebrows whenever they fill out address forms.
As you can see from the Google aerial photo, a trip down Broomrape Lane may lead to a nice, refreshing dip in the pool.
Answer to our headline question: No, John Favreau did not grow up here. John Favreau did not grow up.
5 comments:
John Favreau was raised on Dumbfuck Lane just off Drunken Idiot Terrace.
It's a genus of wildflowers. They're related to snapdragons. Some species in the genus are quite pretty. Others are agricultural weeds.
"Their children must raise eyebrows whenever they fill out address forms."
Yeah, especially when they're filling them out in front of the judge at Juvie.
Could "Broomrape" merely be some kind of unpalatable Sonoran desert cooking oil?
"Broomrape" reminds me of Tobias Fümke, Analrapist on "Arrested Development."
Speaking of arrested development, how about that Jon Favreau guy. He's still employed!
From Wikipedia:
"Broomrape or Broom-rape (Orobanche) is a genus of about 150 species of parasitic herbaceous plants in the family Orobanchaceae, mostly native to the temperate Northern Hemisphere[1]. Some species formerly included in this genus are now referred to the genus Conopholis. The broomrape plant is small, from 10-60 cm tall depending on species. It is best recognized by its yellow-to-straw coloured stems completely lacking chlorophyll, bearing yellow, white or blue, snapdragon-like flowers. The flower shoots are scaly, with a dense terminal spike of 10-20 flowers in most species, though single in O. uniflora. The leaves are merely triangular scales. The seeds are minute, tan-to-brown, and blacken with age. These plants generally flower from late winter to late spring. When they are not flowering, no part of these plants is visible above the surface of the soil."
Its a boring answer, but if you know your plant kingdom, its obvious where the name came from. The area was probably covered in broomrape plants before the cul-de-sac development occurred.
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