Burke: Cuscuta pentagona

	Cuscuta pentagona
	field dodder, five-angled dodder
Habit	Parasitic, twining, annual or perennial herbs, with very slender, pinkish-yellow to white, glabrous stems, often forming large mats.
Leaves	Leaves reduced to tiny scales.
Flowers	Flowers in small clusters, on pedicels about equal to the calyx; calyx not fleshy, 1.5-3 mm. long, shallowly cup-shaped, the 5 lobes broadly ovate-triangular, overlapping slightly at the base; corolla equaling the calyx, persistent, the tube broadly bell-shaped, slightly longer than the 5 spreading to reflexed, lanceolate, acute lobes; stamens 5, inserted just below the sinuses of the tube, exerted, the filaments exceeding the small anthers; obovate-oblong scales covering the base of the filaments are conspicuously fringed above, joined about 1/3 their lengths; styles 2, 1 mm. long; ovary superior, 2-celled.
Fruits	Capsule depressed-globose, 2.5-3 mm. long.

	Cuscuta pentagona
Flowering time	July-September
Habitat	Parasitic on a variety of hosts.
Distribution	Occurring chiefly east of the Cascades crest and in the Columbia River Gorge in Washington; British Columbia to California, east to the Atlantic Coast. [WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]
Origin	Introduced
Conservation status	Not of concern
Sibling taxa	C. approximata, C. californica, C. campestris, C. cephalanthi, C. denticulata, C. epithymum, C. indecora, C. occidentalis, C. pacifica, C. suksdorfii
Web links	Local floras: OR, WA Local Web sites: Flora NW, PNW Herbaria WildflowerSearch iNaturalist (observations) USDA Plants Database LBJ Wildflower Center SEINet Plants of the World Online Encyclopedia of Life Wikipedia Google Image Search

Cuscuta pentagona

field dodder, five-angled dodder

Habit

Parasitic, twining, annual or perennial herbs, with very slender, pinkish-yellow to white, glabrous stems, often forming large mats.

Leaves

Leaves reduced to tiny scales.

Flowers

Flowers in small clusters, on pedicels about equal to the calyx;

calyx not fleshy, 1.5-3 mm. long, shallowly cup-shaped, the 5 lobes broadly ovate-triangular, overlapping slightly at the base;

corolla equaling the calyx, persistent, the tube broadly bell-shaped, slightly longer than the 5 spreading to reflexed, lanceolate, acute lobes;

stamens 5, inserted just below the sinuses of the tube, exerted, the filaments exceeding the small anthers; obovate-oblong scales covering the base of the filaments are conspicuously fringed above, joined about 1/3 their lengths;

styles 2, 1 mm. long;

ovary superior, 2-celled.

Fruits

Capsule depressed-globose, 2.5-3 mm. long.

Cuscuta pentagona

Flowering time

July-September

Habitat

Parasitic on a variety of hosts.

Distribution

Occurring chiefly east of the Cascades crest and in the Columbia River Gorge in Washington; British Columbia to California, east to the Atlantic Coast.

[WildflowerSearch map]

[BONAP county map]

Origin

Introduced

Conservation status

Not of concern

Sibling taxa