Burke: Cuscuta pentagona vs. Cuscuta cephalanthi

	Cuscuta pentagona	Cuscuta cephalanthi
	field dodder, five-angled dodder	buttonbush 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	Cuscuta cephalanthi
Flowering time	July-September	June-September
Habitat	Parasitic on a variety of hosts.	Tideflat and floodplains.
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]	Occurring on both sides of the Cascades crest in Washington; British Columbia to California, east across most of North America to the Atlantic Coast. [WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]
Origin	Introduced	Native
Conservation status	Not of concern	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	C. approximata, C. californica, C. campestris, C. denticulata, C. epithymum, C. indecora, C. occidentalis, C. pacifica, C. pentagona, 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	Local floras: BC, CA, OR, WA Local Web sites: CalFlora, CalPhotos, 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 cephalanthi

field dodder, five-angled dodder

buttonbush 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

Cuscuta cephalanthi

Flowering time

July-September

June-September

Habitat

Parasitic on a variety of hosts.

Tideflat and floodplains.

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]