Orobanche kochii, already described in 1847, has long been regarded as a synonym of the similar Orobanche elatior. The hosts of both species are Scabiosa. According to the 'Vortrag Jahrestagung der Gesellschaft zur Erforschung der Flora Deutschlands (GEFD) 2011' (Lecture Anniversary of the Society for the Study of Germany's Flora) from Holger Uhlich, which is available in the Internet, it has to be regarded as a separate species. It is later in flower than Orobanche elatior, has a looser inflorescence with rather upright and less prominent single flowers, the back line of which is almost straight in the middle, and often it has a reddish color of the flowers or even of the whole plant.