Cuscuta cephalanthi |
Cuscuta epilinum |
|
---|---|---|
butterbush dodder, button-bush dodder |
cuscute du lin, flax dodder |
|
Stems | yellow-orange, medium. |
yellow-orange, slender to 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. |
bracts ovate, membranous, margins entire, apex obtuse. |
Pedicels | 0–1 mm. |
absent. |
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, 3–4 mm, membranous; papillae absent; calyx creamy yellow, cupulate, equaling or longer than corolla tube, divided 1/2–2/3 its length, not notably reticulate or shiny, lobes broadly ovate, bases overlapping, margins entire, apex acute to acuminate; corolla white, drying creamy yellow, initially globose, later urceolate, 2.8–3.7 mm, tube 2.5–3 mm, not saccate, lobes erect to spreading, ovate-triangular, 1/4–1/3(–1/2) corolla tube length, margins entire, apex subobtuse to acute, straight to incurved; infrastaminal scales spatulate, 0.8–1.5 mm, 1/2–4/5 corolla tube length, bridged at 0.3–0.5 mm, base truncate, entire or 2-fid, short-fimbriate apically, fimbriae 0.03–0.15 mm; stamens included or barely exserted, shorter than corolla lobes; filaments 0.2–0.4 mm; anthers 0.3–0.5 × 0.3–0.4 mm; styles slightly subulate; style plus stigmas 0.5–1.1 mm, shorter than ovary; stigmas cylindric to terete, 0.3–0.6 mm, ± equaling styles. |
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. |
depressed-globose, ± angular, 2.8–3.5 × 3–4.2 mm, not thickened or raised around interstylar aperture, not translucent, capped by withered corolla. |
Seeds | 1 or 2, obcompressed, broadly ovoid, 1.4–2 × 1.3–1.4 mm, hilum region terminal. |
4, usually connate in pairs, angled, subglobose or broadly ellipsoid to ovoid, 1.1–1.2 × 0.9–1 mm, hilum region terminal. |
2n | = 60. |
= 42. |
Cuscuta cephalanthi |
Cuscuta epilinum |
|
Phenology | Flowering Jun–Oct. | Flowering Jun–Jul. |
Habitat | stream and lake shores, marshes, and floodplain forests. | Hosts: primarily Linum usitatissimum but once established on flax, it may also attach to secondary hosts such as Camelina sativa and Guizotia abyssinica. |
Elevation | 0–1500 m. (0–4900 ft.) | 0–200 m. (0–700 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
|
DE; MA; MD; MI; NJ; NY; OH; PA; VT; WA; WY; QC; Europe; Asia [Introduced in North America] |
Discussion | Cuscuta epilinum is an ephemeral associated exclusively with flax. It apparently coevolved with flax since its domestication in the Nile Valley or the Middle East (M. A. García and M. P. Martín 2007). (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. Cuscuta |
Sibling taxa | ||
Name authority | Engelmann: Amer. J. Sci. Arts 43: 336, plate 6, figs. 1–6. (1842) | Weihe ex Boenninghausen: Prodr. Fl. Monast. Westphal., 75. (1824) |
Web links |
|