The Greater Broomrape (Orobranche rapum-genistae) is a parasitic herbaceous plant from the temperate Northern Hemisphere.
The straw-coloured stems lack chlorophyll and bear yellow, white or blue flowers.
This plant is growing from late winter to late spring.
It totally depends on other plants. The seeds may remain in the soil for long time before to grow, stimulated by living plant roots.
The plant is attached to the roots of nearby plants which act as hosts. Then, it takes water and nutrient from the host.

We have followed through the growth of this plant from March, 27th to June, 11th – 2014, in SW France.
An interesting observation!
(Sources: Wikipedia. The free encyclopedia.)

The two rows at the bottom show one of the tubers of this plant. This one was coming off the root of the host, and we took it for better study.
It resembles a small pineapple and the pulp is similar too, but any smell. A thick juice flowed from the pulp as we cut it.