Cuscuta indecora |
Cuscuta americana |
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big seed alfalfa dodder, collared dodder, inelegant dodder, large-seed dodder |
American dodder |
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Stems | yellow to orange, slender to medium. |
yellow-orange, medium. |
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Inflorescences | loose to dense, paniculiform or corymbiform, sometimes originating endogenously; bracts at base of clusters 1, at base of pedicels 0 or 1, ovate to lanceolate, membranous, margins entire, apex acute. |
glomerulate or densely paniculiform; bracts at base of clusters 1, at base of pedicels 0 or 1, ovate to lanceolate, ± fleshy, margins entire, apex acute. |
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Pedicels | 0.5–6 mm, usually papillate. |
0.2–0.6 mm. |
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Flowers | 5-merous, 3–4.5(–5.3) mm, fleshy, perianth cells convex, domelike, perianth and ovary usually papillate; calyx creamy yellow to brownish, cupulate, 1/2–3/4 or longer than corolla tube length, divided 1/3–2/3 its length, not reticulate or shiny, lobes triangular-ovate to lanceolate, bases overlapping or not, margins entire, midvein not carinate, apex acute to attenuate; corolla white, drying creamy yellow to dark brown, 2.5–4(–5) mm, tube campanulate to campanulate-cylindric, becoming subglobose or urceolate, 1.7–3 mm, not saccate, lobes suberect to erect, triangular-ovate, 1/3 to equaling corolla tube length, margins entire, apex acute, inflexed; infrastaminal scales subspatulate to spatulate, 1.7–3 mm, equaling corolla tube length, bridged at 0.3–0.9 mm, usually rounded, rarely truncate or 2 or 3(or 4)-lobed, uniformly densely fimbriate, fimbriae 0.4–0.7 mm; stamens barely exserted or included, shorter than corolla lobes; filaments 0.3–0.7 mm; anthers 0.3–0.8 × 0.2–0.5 mm; styles filiform, 1–2.5 mm, equaling ovary. |
5-merous, 2.5–4.2 mm, fleshy, not papillate; calyx brownish, cylindric, equaling or slightly shorter than corolla tube length, divided 1/4 its length, not reticulate or shiny, lobes broadly ovate, bases overlapping, margins entire, midvein not carinate, apex rounded to obtuse; corolla white, drying brown, 2–3.3 mm, tube cylindric, 1.7–2.5 mm, not saccate, lobes usually erect, sometimes spreading, ovate, 1/5–1/4 corolla tube length, margins entire, apex obtuse, ± cucullate, or straight; infrastaminal scales ovate to oblong, 1.4–2 mm, 3/4–4/5 corolla tube length, bridged at 0.6–1 mm, truncate to rounded, uniformly short-fimbriate, fimbriae 0.1–0.2 mm; stamens included, shorter than corolla lobes; filaments 0.1–0.3 mm; anthers 0.2–0.4 × 0.2–0.4 mm; styles filiform, 1.5–2.2 mm, longer than ovary. |
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Capsules | globose to subglobose, 2–3.5 × 1.9–4(–5) mm, thickened and raised around relatively mid-sized interstylar aperture, translucent, surrounded or capped by withered corolla, indehiscent. |
globose-ovoid to ovoid, 1.8–3 × 0.8–2 mm, not thickened or raised around relatively small interstylar aperture, not translucent, capped by withered corolla, dehiscence circumscissile. |
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Seeds | 2–4, shape heterogeneous on same plant: obcompressed to weakly angled, broadly ellipsoid to transversely oblique, 1.4–1.8 × 1.2–1.6 mm, hilum region usually subterminal, rarely almost terminal. |
1, subglobose to ellipsoid, 1.4–1.5 × 1–1.1 mm, hilum region terminal. |
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Cuscuta indecora |
Cuscuta americana |
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Phenology | Flowering Sep–Mar. | |||||||||
Habitat | Hosts: Bursera, Celtis, Citharexylum, Colubrina, Coursetia, Haematoxylum, Haplophyton, Havardia, Janusia, Jatropha, Karwinskia, Mimosa, Prosopis, Sebastiania, Senna, Vallesia, and other herbs and woody plants. | |||||||||
Elevation | 0–40 m. [0–130 ft.] | |||||||||
Distribution |
North America; Mexico; South America; West Indies
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FL; Mexico; Central America; South America; West Indies |
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Discussion | Varieties 3 (3 in the flora). Cuscuta indecora is closely related to C. coryli; it differs by its usually five-merous, larger flowers, uniformly densely fimbriate infrastaminal scales, and more or less translucent, globose to subglobose capsules. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
In Florida, Cuscuta americana may attack Citrus trees. Cuscuta americana was used by the Aztecs to produce a yellow dye called zacatlaxcalli (B. de Sahagún 1950–1982). (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Key |
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Source | FNA vol. 14. | FNA vol. 14. | ||||||||
Parent taxa | ||||||||||
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Name authority | Choisy: Mém. Soc. Phys. Genève 9: 278, plate 3, fig. 3. (1842) | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 124. (1753) | ||||||||
Web links |