Cuscuta cephalanthi |
Cuscuta americana |
|
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butterbush dodder, button-bush dodder |
American dodder |
|
Stems | yellow-orange, medium. |
yellow-orange, medium. |
Inflorescences | dense to loose, spiciform or paniculiform, commonly originating endogenously; bracts at base of clusters 1 or 2, at base of pedicels and/or flowers 0 or 1, ovate, membranous, margins entire or serrulate, apex obtuse to acute. |
glomerulate or densely paniculiform; bracts at base of clusters 1, at base of pedicels 0 or 1, ovate to lanceolate, ± fleshy, margins entire, apex acute. |
Pedicels | 0–1 mm. |
0.2–0.6 mm. |
Flowers | (3 or)4(or 5)-merous, 2–3 mm, membranous, not papillate; calyx yellow-brown, shallowly cupulate, 1/2 corolla tube length, divided 2/3 its length, not reticulate, not shiny, lobes oblong-ovate, bases slightly overlapping, margins entire or serrulate, midvein not carinate, apex obtuse; corolla white, drying creamy white, 1.8–2.8 mm, tube cylindric-campanulate to cylindric, 1.1–2.2 mm, not saccate, lobes spreading, ovate, 1/3–1/2 corolla tube length, margins entire, apex obtuse, straight; infrastaminal scales oblong, rounded, 0.9–1.7 mm, shorter than to equaling corolla tube length, bridged at 0.2–0.4 mm, sparsely fimbriate, more densely distally, fimbriae 0.1–0.3 mm; stamens included to slightly exserted, equaling corolla lobes; filaments 0.2–0.4 mm; anthers 0.2–0.4 × 0.2–0.4 mm; styles filiform or narrowly terete, (0.6–)1–2 mm, equaling or longer than ovary. |
5-merous, 2.5–4.2 mm, fleshy, not papillate; calyx brownish, cylindric, equaling or slightly shorter than corolla tube length, divided 1/4 its length, not reticulate or shiny, lobes broadly ovate, bases overlapping, margins entire, midvein not carinate, apex rounded to obtuse; corolla white, drying brown, 2–3.3 mm, tube cylindric, 1.7–2.5 mm, not saccate, lobes usually erect, sometimes spreading, ovate, 1/5–1/4 corolla tube length, margins entire, apex obtuse, ± cucullate, or straight; infrastaminal scales ovate to oblong, 1.4–2 mm, 3/4–4/5 corolla tube length, bridged at 0.6–1 mm, truncate to rounded, uniformly short-fimbriate, fimbriae 0.1–0.2 mm; stamens included, shorter than corolla lobes; filaments 0.1–0.3 mm; anthers 0.2–0.4 × 0.2–0.4 mm; styles filiform, 1.5–2.2 mm, longer than ovary. |
Capsules | depressed-globose to globose, 2.5–3.2(–4) × 2–4 mm, not thickened or raised around relatively small interstylar aperture, not translucent, capped by withered corolla, indehiscent. |
globose-ovoid to ovoid, 1.8–3 × 0.8–2 mm, not thickened or raised around relatively small interstylar aperture, not translucent, capped by withered corolla, dehiscence circumscissile. |
Seeds | 1 or 2, obcompressed, broadly ovoid, 1.4–2 × 1.3–1.4 mm, hilum region terminal. |
1, subglobose to ellipsoid, 1.4–1.5 × 1–1.1 mm, hilum region terminal. |
2n | = 60. |
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Cuscuta cephalanthi |
Cuscuta americana |
|
Phenology | Flowering Jun–Oct. | Flowering Sep–Mar. |
Habitat | stream and lake shores, marshes, and floodplain forests. | Hosts: Bursera, Celtis, Citharexylum, Colubrina, Coursetia, Haematoxylum, Haplophyton, Havardia, Janusia, Jatropha, Karwinskia, Mimosa, Prosopis, Sebastiania, Senna, Vallesia, and other herbs and woody plants. |
Elevation | 0–1500 m. (0–4900 ft.) | 0–40 m. (0–100 ft.) |
Distribution |
AR; AZ; CA; CT; DC; GA; IA; ID; IL; IN; KS; KY; MA; ME; MI; MN; NC; ND; NE; NJ; NM; NV; NY; OH; OK; OR; PA; RI; SC; SD; TN; TX; UT; VA; WA; WI; AB; BC; MB; NB; NS; ON
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FL; Mexico; Central America; South America; West Indies |
Discussion | In Florida, Cuscuta americana may attack Citrus trees. Cuscuta americana was used by the Aztecs to produce a yellow dye called zacatlaxcalli (B. de Sahagún 1950–1982). (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
|
Source | FNA vol. 14. | FNA vol. 14. |
Parent taxa | Convolvulaceae > Cuscuta > subg. Grammica | Convolvulaceae > Cuscuta > subg. Grammica |
Sibling taxa | ||
Name authority | Engelmann: Amer. J. Sci. Arts 43: 336, plate 6, figs. 1–6. (1842) | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 124. (1753) |
Web links |
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