Cuscuta indecora |
Cuscuta boldinghii |
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big seed alfalfa dodder, collared dodder, inelegant dodder, large-seed dodder |
boldingh's dodder, Caribbean dodder |
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Stems | yellow to orange, slender to medium. |
yellow-orange, slender. |
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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 compact-paniculiform, 15–70-flowered, flowers subsessile; bracts at base of clusters 1, at base of pedicels 0–2, ovate to lanceolate, membranous, margins entire, apex acuminate to attenuate. |
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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 mm, membranous, not papillate; calyx brownish, campanulate, equaling corolla tube length, divided 1/2–2/3 its length, not reticulate, shiny, lobes oblong, obovate, ovate, or spatulate, bases overlapping, margins entire or finely serrulate-denticulate, midvein not carinate, apex acute to obtuse, each exceeded by hornlike appendage, 0.3–0.6 mm; corolla creamy white, drying brown, 2.2–3.2 mm, tube campanulate, 1.2–1.6 mm, not saccate, lobes spreading to reflexed, ovate to lanceolate, equaling corolla tube length, each with subapical, hornlike projection, 0.3–0.7 mm, margins entire or irregularly denticulate, apex obtuse, straight; infrastaminal scales oblong to broadly ovate or rounded, 1.2–1.6 mm, equaling corolla tube length, bridged at 0.5–0.7 mm, sparsely, uniformly short-fimbriate, fimbriae 0.04–0.1 mm; stamens exserted, shorter than corolla lobes; filaments 0.3–0.9 mm; anthers 0.4–0.5 × 0.2–0.3 mm; styles stout, ± subulate, 0.9–2 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 to slightly depressed, 1.8–2.3 × 1–2 mm, not thickened or raised around relatively small interstylar aperture, not translucent or becoming translucent very late, 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. |
1–4, angled, subglobose or ovoid to broadly ellipsoid, 0.7–1.1 × 0.7–0.9 mm, hilum region subterminal. |
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Cuscuta indecora |
Cuscuta boldinghii |
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Phenology | Flowering Jul–Nov. | |||||||||
Habitat | Hosts: herbs and woody plants. | |||||||||
Elevation | 0–10 m. (0–0 ft.) | |||||||||
Distribution |
North America; Mexico; South America; West Indies
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FL; Mexico; Central America; West Indies (Puerto Rico); n South America |
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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.) |
Cuscuta boldinghii was reported from Florida as a parasite of Citrus (L. C. Knorr 1949); it was collected again in Florida (Monroe County) in 2002. Cuscuta boldinghii and C. erosa are the only species in the flora area bearing hornlike appendages with stomata on corolla lobes (M. Costea et al. 2011). (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 | Convolvulaceae > Cuscuta > subg. Grammica | Convolvulaceae > Cuscuta > subg. Grammica | ||||||||
Sibling taxa | ||||||||||
Subordinate taxa | ||||||||||
Name authority | Choisy: Mém. Soc. Phys. Genève 9: 278, plate 3, fig. 3. (1842) | Urban: Repert. Spec. Nov. Regni Veg. 16: 38. (1919) | ||||||||
Web links |