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cuscute des champs, field dodder, five-angle dodder, large-seed alfalfa dodder

Stems

yellow to orange, medium.

Inflorescences

dense, corymbiform or glomerulate;

bracts at base of clusters 1, at base of pedicels 0 or 1, ovate or ovate-triangular to lanceolate, membranous, margins entire, apex acute.

Pedicels

0.3–2.5(–3.5) mm.

Flowers

(4 or)5-merous, 1.9–3.6 mm, membranous, not papillate;

calyx yellow, cupulate, equaling corolla tube length, divided 2/5–3/5 its length, reticulate, shiny, lobes ovate-triangular, bases overlapping, margins entire, midvein not carinate, without multicellular protuberances, apex obtuse to rounded;

corolla creamy white, drying creamy or golden yellow, 2–3.5 mm, tube campanulate, (1.1–)1.5–1.9 mm, not saccate, lobes spreading, triangular to triangular-lanceolate, equaling corolla tube length, margins entire, apex acute to acuminate, inflexed;

infrastaminal scales oblong-ovate to spatulate, rounded, 1.5–2 mm, equaling or exceeding corolla tube length, bridged at 0.3–0.5 mm, uniformly densely fimbriate, fimbriae 0.3–0.4(–0.5) mm;

stamens exserted, shorter than corolla lobes;

filaments 0.4–0.7 mm;

anthers (0.3–)0.4–0.5 × 0.2–0.3 mm;

styles filiform, 0.5–1.6 mm, shorter than to equaling ovary.

Capsules

depressed-globose to depressed, 1.3–2.8 × 1.9–3.8 mm, not thickened or raised around relatively large interstylar aperture, sometimes translucent, to 1/3 enveloped by withered corolla, indehiscent.

Seeds

4, angled, subglobose to broadly ellipsoid, 1.1–1.5 × 0.9–1.1 mm, hilum region subterminal.

2n

= 56.

Cuscuta campestris

Phenology Flowering May–Nov.
Habitat Hosts: Acanthaceae, Astera­ceae, Brassicaceae, Chenopodiaceae, Convolvulaceae, Euphor­biaceae, Fabaceae, Hydrophyllaceae, Polygona­ceae, Solanaceae, Urticaceae, Verbenaceae, and others (M. Costea and F. J. Tardif 2006).
Elevation 0–2000 m. (0–6600 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
AR; AZ; CA; CO; FL; GA; IA; ID; IL; IN; KS; KY; LA; MA; MD; MI; MN; MO; MS; MT; NC; ND; NE; NJ; NM; NV; NY; OH; OK; OR; PA; SD; TN; TX; UT; VA; WA; WI; WV; WY; AB; BC; MB; NS; ON; QC; SK; Mexico
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Discussion

Reports of Cuscuta campestris from New Brunswick, Newfoundland, and Prince Edward Island have not been verified.

Cuscuta campestris is the most widespread species of the genus in North America and perhaps the most successful and prevalent Cuscuta weed species worldwide; it has been recorded from South America, Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australia. It has been often referred to in North America as C. pentagona, which has smaller flowers and angled calyces. The two species are closely related; C. campestris is a hybrid species and C. pentagona is one of its progenitors (M. Costea et al. 2015b).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Source FNA vol. 14.
Parent taxa Convolvulaceae > Cuscuta > subg. Grammica
Sibling taxa
C. americana, C. approximata, C. azteca, C. boldinghii, C. brachycalyx, C. californica, C. cephalanthi, C. chinensis, C. compacta, C. coryli, C. cuspidata, C. dentatasquamata, C. denticulata, C. draconella, C. epilinum, C. epithymum, C. erosa, C. europaea, C. exaltata, C. glabrior, C. glomerata, C. gronovii, C. harperi, C. howelliana, C. indecora, C. japonica, C. jepsonii, C. legitima, C. leptantha, C. liliputana, C. mitriformis, C. nevadensis, C. obtusiflora, C. occidentalis, C. odontolepis, C. pacifica, C. pentagona, C. plattensis, C. polygonorum, C. rostrata, C. runyonii, C. salina, C. squamata, C. suaveolens, C. subinclusa, C. suksdorfii, C. tuberculata, C. umbellata, C. umbrosa, C. warneri
Synonyms C. pentagona var. calycina
Name authority Yuncker: Mem. Torrey Bot. Club 18: 138. (1932)
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