Cuscuta indecora |
Cuscuta denticulata |
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big seed alfalfa dodder, collared dodder, inelegant dodder, large-seed dodder |
desert dodder, small-tooth dodder |
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Stems | yellow to orange, slender to medium. |
light yellow, filiform. |
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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, glomerulate; bracts at base of clusters, pedicels, and/or flowers 1–3, subround, ovate, or rhombic to ovate-lanceolate, membranous, margins entire or denticulate, apex acute to obtuse. |
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Pedicels | 0.5–6 mm, usually papillate. |
(0–)0.5–2.2 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. |
(4 or)5-merous, 2–3 mm, membranous, not papillate; calyx straw yellow, campanulate to urceolate, equaling corolla tube length or nearly so, divided 2/3 its length, reticulate and shiny, lobes obovate-orbiculate, bases overlapping, margins denticulate, midvein not carinate, apex rounded; corolla white, drying straw yellow, 1.6–2.6 mm, tube campanulate, 0.6–1.5 mm, not saccate, lobes reflexed, ovate to broadly elliptic, equaling corolla tube length, margins irregularly denticulate, apex rounded, straight; infrastaminal scales ovate to oblong, 0.6–1.4 mm, equaling corolla tube length, bridged at 0.4–0.6 mm, rounded to truncate, uniformly denticulate or short-fimbriate, fimbriae 0.05–0.1 mm; stamens included to slightly exserted, shorter than corolla lobes; filaments 0.2–0.4 mm; anthers 0.2–0.4 × 0.3–0.3 mm; styles filiform, 0.3–0.5 mm, shorter 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, 1.3–2.1 × 1–2 mm, not thickened or raised around inconspicuous interstylar aperture, 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, not angled or obcompressed or globose to globose-ovoid, 0.8–1.1 × 0.8–1.1 mm, hilum region terminal; embryo enlarged-globose at base. |
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2n | = 30. |
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Cuscuta indecora |
Cuscuta denticulata |
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Phenology | Flowering Mar–Oct(–Dec). | |||||||||
Habitat | also Ambrosia, Artemisia, Atriplex, Bebbia, Coleogyne, Covillea, Ericameria, Eriogonum, Euphorbia, Gutierrezia, Lepidospartum, Lycium, Psorothamnus, and other desert plants. | |||||||||
Elevation | 200–2000 m. [700–6600 ft.] | |||||||||
Distribution |
North America; Mexico; South America; West Indies
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AZ; CA; CO; ID; NV; UT; WA; Mexico (Baja California)
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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.) |
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Key |
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Source | FNA vol. 14. | FNA vol. 14. | ||||||||
Parent taxa | ||||||||||
Sibling taxa | ||||||||||
Subordinate taxa | ||||||||||
Name authority | Choisy: Mém. Soc. Phys. Genève 9: 278, plate 3, fig. 3. (1842) | Engelmann: Amer. Naturalist 9: 348. (1875) | ||||||||
Web links |