Cuscuta indecora |
Cuscuta compacta |
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big seed alfalfa dodder, collared dodder, inelegant dodder, large-seed dodder |
compact dodder |
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Stems | yellow to orange, slender to medium. |
yellow-orange, coarse. |
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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. |
dense to loose, glomerulate, often originating endogenously; bracts at base of clusters, pedicels, and/or flowers 2–4(–6), ovate-orbiculate, fleshy, margins scarious, finely denticulate-fimbriate, apex erect, obtuse. |
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Pedicels | 0.5–6 mm, usually papillate. |
0–1 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, 4–6 mm, fleshy, not papillate; calyx brown-yellow, cylindro-campanulate, 3/4 corolla tube length, divided to base or nearly so, finely reticulate, shiny, lobes orbiculate, bases broadly overlapping, margins scarious, minutely denticulate-fimbriate, midvein not carinate, apex rounded; corolla white to creamy greenish, drying creamy brown, 3.8–4.5 mm, tube cylindric, 3–4 mm, not saccate, lobes spreading to reflexed, ovate, 1/3–1/4 corolla tube length, margins entire, apex obtuse, straight; infrastaminal scales oblong to obovate, 2.6–3.3 mm, 3/4 to equaling corolla tube length, bridged at 0.9–1.3 mm, usually densely fimbriate in distal 1/2–3/4, sometimes reduced, 2-fid with 1–3 fimbriae on each side of filament insertion or dentate-winged, fimbriae 0.4–0.8 mm; stamens exserted, shorter than corolla lobes; filaments 0.2–0.3 mm; anthers 0.3–0.4 × 0.3–0.4 mm; styles filiform, 1–2 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. |
conic-globose to broadly ellipsoid, 3–5(–6) × 2–2.5 mm, thickened and slightly umbonate around relatively small interstylar aperture, not translucent, capped by withered corolla, indehiscent. |
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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, obcompressed, broadly ovoid to broadly ellipsoid, 1.9–2.5 × 1.7–2.3 mm, hilum region subterminal. |
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2n | = 30. |
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Cuscuta indecora |
Cuscuta compacta |
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Phenology | Flowering late Jul–Nov. | |||||||||
Habitat | wetland margins, wet woodlands. | |||||||||
Elevation | 30–300 m. [100–1000 ft.] | |||||||||
Distribution |
North America; Mexico; South America; West Indies
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AL; AR; CT; DC; DE; FL; GA; IA; IL; IN; KY; LA; MA; MD; MO; MS; NC; NH; NJ; NY; OK; PA; RI; SC; TN; TX; VA
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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 compacta var. efimbriata was treated as a synonym of C. compacta by D. F. Austin (1980). Yuncker recognized its presence in Florida (the type collection) and Arkansas; these plants apparently are populational variants, distinguished by infrastaminal scales shorter than the corolla tube, much reduced in size, bifid or winged, and reduced in marginal fimbriae. (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 | ||||||||||
Sibling taxa | ||||||||||
Subordinate taxa | ||||||||||
Synonyms | C. compacta var. efimbriata | |||||||||
Name authority | Choisy: Mém. Soc. Phys. Genève 9: 278, plate 3, fig. 3. (1842) | Jussieu ex Choisy: Mém. Soc. Phys. Genève 9: 281, plate 4, fig. 2. (1842) | ||||||||
Web links |