Cuscuta epithymum |
Cuscuta suaveolens |
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clover dodder, common dodder, thyme dodder |
fimbriate dodder, fringe dodder |
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Stems | yellow-orange, slender. |
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Inflorescences | loose, racemiform or corymbiform; bracts at base of clusters 1, at base of pedicels 0 or 1, ovate, membranous, margins entire, apex acute. |
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Pedicels | 2–5(–7 mm). |
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Flowers | 5-merous, 3–5 mm, membranous, not papillate; calyx light brown to reddish, cupulate-turbinate, 1/2–3/4 corolla tube length, divided 1/2 its length, not reticulate or shiny, lobes triangular-ovate, bases scarcely overlapping, margins entire, revolute, midvein not carinate, apex obtuse to subacute; corolla white, drying creamy or reddish, 2.8–4.7 mm, tube campanulate, 2–3 mm, not saccate, lobes erect to spreading, triangular-ovate, 1/2 corolla tube length, margins entire, apex acute, inflexed; infrastaminal scales oblong-ovate, 1.8–2.8 mm, equaling corolla tube length, bridged at 0.8–1.4 mm, rounded, uniformly densely fimbriate, fimbriae 0.3–0.5 mm; stamens slightly exserted, shorter than corolla lobes; filaments 0.2–0.4 mm; anthers 0.6–0.8 × 0.5–0.6 mm; styles filiform, 1.6–2.5 mm, equaling or longer than ovary. |
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Capsules | globose-ovoid, 2.5–3.5 × 2.5–3.5 mm, not thickened around relatively small interstylar aperture, not translucent, surrounded by withered corolla, indehiscent. |
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Seeds | 2–4, obcompressed, subglobose to broadly ellipsoid, 1.3–2 × 1–1.7 mm, hilum region subterminal. |
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Cuscuta epithymum |
Cuscuta suaveolens |
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Phenology | Flowering Jul–Oct. | |
Habitat | Hosts: Medicago sativa, Trifolium. | |
Elevation | 20–1000 m. (100–3300 ft.) | |
Distribution |
AL; CA; OH; SD; TX; South America [Introduced in North America; introduced also in Europe] |
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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.) |
Cuscuta suaveolens is an ephemeral weed associated with the cultivation of forage legumes; it has not been collected in recent decades. (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. Grammica |
Sibling taxa | ||
Subordinate taxa | ||
Synonyms | C. europaea var. epithymum | |
Name authority | (Linnaeus) Linnaeus: Amoen. Acad. 4: 478. (1759) — (as epithym.) | Seringe: Ann. Sci. Phys. Nat. Lyon 3: 519. (1840) |
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