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butterbush dodder, button-bush dodder

dragon dodder

Stems

yellow-orange, medium.

pale orange, slender.

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.

dense, glomerulate or fasciculate;

bracts at base of clusters 1, at base of pedicels 1 or 2, ovate-triangular to linear, membranous, margins entire, midvein with 1–3(–5) hornlike, multicellular protuberances, apex cuspidate to long-attenuate, ± recurved.

Pedicels

0–1 mm.

0.1–6 mm, sometimes papillate.

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, 2.5–3.6(–4) mm, fleshy, papillate or not;

calyx golden yellow to brown, campanulate, ± angled, equaling corolla tube length, divided 1/2–2/3 its length, reticulate and shiny or ± fleshy, lobes triangular-ovate or broadly ovate to subround, membranous, bases overlapping, margins irregularly serrulate, denticulate, or entire, midvein with 1 or 2(–5) hornlike, multicellular protuberances 0.1–0.3 mm, apex subacute, rounded, or obtuse;

corolla white, drying creamy yellow, 2–3.5 mm, tube campanulate, 1.2–1.6 mm, not saccate, lobes spreading to reflexed, triangular-ovate, equaling corolla tube length, margins entire or irregularly denticulate, apex ± cucullate, acute, cuspidate (sometimes 2 or 3-cuspidate), mucronate, or truncate, inflexed;

infrastaminal scales spatulate to obovate, 0.7–1 mm, 3/4 corolla tube length, bridged at 0.2–0.4 mm, densely fimbriate, fimbriae 0.2–0.3 mm;

stamens exserted, shorter than corolla lobes;

filaments 0.4–0.8 mm;

anthers 0.5–0.8 × 0.4–0.5 mm;

styles stout, filiform, 0.5–1.2 mm, shorter than to equaling 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.

not seen, lack of dehiscence line in the ovary indicates they are indehiscent.

Seeds

1 or 2, obcompressed, broadly ovoid, 1.4–2 × 1.3–1.4 mm, hilum region terminal.

not seen.

2n

= 60.

Cuscuta cephalanthi

Cuscuta draconella

Phenology Flowering Jun–Oct. Flowering Aug–Sep.
Habitat stream and lake shores, marshes, and floodplain forests. Hosts: Atriplex, Gutierrezia, Thelesperma.
Elevation 0–1500 m. (0–4900 ft.) 1600 m. (5200 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
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
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
NM; TX
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Some plants of Cuscuta draconella from Texas were formerly treated as C. decipiens Yuncker, which is known only from Zacatecas, Mexico.

(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
C. americana, C. approximata, C. azteca, C. boldinghii, C. brachycalyx, C. californica, C. campestris, 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
C. americana, C. approximata, C. azteca, C. boldinghii, C. brachycalyx, C. californica, C. campestris, C. cephalanthi, C. chinensis, C. compacta, C. coryli, C. cuspidata, C. dentatasquamata, C. denticulata, 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
Name authority Engelmann: Amer. J. Sci. Arts 43: 336, plate 6, figs. 1–6. (1842) Costea & Stefanović: Syst. Bot. 34: 577, figs. 1B–I, 4A–C. (2009)
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