Cuscuta cephalanthi |
Cuscuta howelliana |
|
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butterbush dodder, button-bush dodder |
Boggs Lake dodder |
|
Stems | yellow-orange, medium. |
yellow to 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, 3–30-flowered, flowers sessile or subsessile, embedded in inflorescence of host; bracts at base of clusters 1, at base of pedicels and/or flowers 0 or 1, lanceolate, membranous, margins entire, apex acute. |
Pedicels | 0–1 mm. |
0–0.6 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. |
4(or 5)-merous, 3–4 mm, membranous, calyx and corolla papillate; calyx straw yellow, campanulate, equaling or longer than corolla tube length, divided 1/2–2/3 its length, finely reticulate, shiny, lobes triangular-ovate, bases not overlapping, margins entire, midvein not carinate, apex acuminate to long-attenuate, recurved; corolla drying white or creamy white to brownish, 2.8–3.5 mm, tube cylindric-campanulate to urceolate, 1.5–2 mm, not saccate, lobes suberect to spreading, triangular-ovate, equaling corolla tube length, margins entire, apex acute to long-attenuate, recurved; infrastaminal scales oblong-ovate, 1–1.3 mm, 1/2–2/3 corolla tube length, bridged at 0.2–0.3 mm, rounded, uniformly densely fimbriate, fimbriae 0.1–0.3 mm; stamens included, shorter than corolla lobes; filaments 0.1–0.3 mm; anthers 0.4–0.5 × 0.3–0.4 mm; styles filiform, 0.4–1.1 mm, 1/4 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. |
globose to depressed-globose, 1.2–1.5 × 0.8–1.2 mm, not thickened or raised around relatively small interstylar aperture, not translucent, completely enclosed or capped by withered corolla, indehiscent. |
Seeds | 1 or 2, obcompressed, broadly ovoid, 1.4–2 × 1.3–1.4 mm, hilum region terminal. |
1–4, obcompressed to slightly angled, subglobose to broadly ellipsoid, 0.9–1.2 × 0.8–1.1 mm, hilum region subterminal. |
2n | = 60. |
|
Cuscuta cephalanthi |
Cuscuta howelliana |
|
Phenology | Flowering Jun–Oct. | Flowering Aug–Sep. |
Habitat | stream and lake shores, marshes, and floodplain forests. | vernal pools. |
Elevation | 0–1500 m. (0–4900 ft.) | 30–1000 m. (100–3300 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
|
CA |
Discussion | Inflorescences of Cuscuta howelliana develop inside inflorescences of Epilobium densiflorum, Eryngium, and Navarretia; the flowers apparently synchronize their anthesis with that of the host’s flowers and achieve both protection from the host and access to the pollinators of the host. When it parasitizes Diplacus and Downingia, the parasite flowers but does not produce seeds. (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) | P. Rubtzov: Leafl. W. Bot. 10: 335. (1966) |
Web links |
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