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clover dodder, common dodder, thyme dodder

tall dodder

Stems

greenish yellow to purple, spotted, coarse.

Inflorescences

spikes, racemes, or loose panicles with 1–3(–5)-flowered cymes, flowers sessile or short-pedicellate;

bracts at base of clusters and pedicels 1, ovate, margins entire, apex obtuse.

Pedicels

0–2 mm.

Flowers

5-merous, 4–5 mm, thick and fleshy, not papillate;

calyx yellow-brown, globose-campanulate, equaling corolla tube length, divided 2/3 its length, not reticulate or shiny, lobes ovate to orbiculate, bases overlapping, margins entire, partly hyaline, midvein sometimes ± carinate or thickened, apex rounded;

corolla white, drying yellow-brown, 3.8–4.8 mm, tube cylindric-campanulate, 2.8–3.5 mm, not saccate, lobes erect to spreading, ovate to suborbiculate, 1/4–1/3 tube length, margins entire, apex rounded;

infrastaminal scales oblong to ovate, 1.5–2 mm, 1/2–2/3 corolla tube length, bridged at 0.5–1 mm, 2-fid or with coarse fimbriae distally, 0.1–0.4 mm;

stamens included, shorter than corolla lobes;

filaments 0.1–0.3 mm;

anthers 0.3–0.5 × 0.3–0.5 mm;

styles 1, sometimes distally 2-fid or separating into 2 when pulled apart, 1–1.2 mm, ± equaling or longer than ovary, longer than stigmas;

stigmas depressed-globose, 0.1–0.5 mm.

Capsules

globose-ovoid to conic, 5–7(–10) × 3–5(–6) mm, not translucent, capped by withered corolla.

Seeds

4, angled, broadly ellipsoid to ellipsoid or obovoid, 3–3.9 × 2.2–2.5 mm, hilum area lateral.

Cuscuta epithymum

Cuscuta exaltata

Phenology Flowering May–Oct.
Habitat Hosts: Diospyros, Juglans, Quercus, Rhus, Ulmus, Vitis, and other woody plants.
Elevation 0–500 m. (0–1600 ft.)
Distribution
from USDA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
FL; TX
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Varieties (subspecies) 2 (1 in the flora): introduced; Europe; introduced also in Mexico, South America, Asia, s Africa, Australia.

Cuscuta epithymum subsp. kotschyi (Des Moulins) Arcangeli grows in southern Europe.

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

Source FNA vol. 14. FNA vol. 14.
Parent taxa Convolvulaceae > Cuscuta > subg. Cuscuta Convolvulaceae > Cuscuta > subg. Monogynella
Sibling taxa
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. draconella, C. epilinum, 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. draconella, C. epilinum, C. epithymum, C. erosa, C. europaea, 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
Subordinate taxa
C. epithymum var. epithymum
Synonyms C. europaea var. epithymum
Name authority (Linnaeus) Linnaeus: Amoen. Acad. 4: 478. (1759) — (as epithym.) Engelmann: Trans. Acad. Sci. St. Louis 1: 513. (1859)
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