def parse_branches(branch_list):
    """
    Extract branch meta data from a list of Git response lines.

    Arguments
    ---------
    branch_list: iterable
        list of branch-related entries beginning with the string '# '

    Returns
    -------
    dict
        a dictionary containing branch meta data
    """
    return dict(x.lstrip('# ').split(maxsplit=1) for x in branch_list)