Cuscuta indecora |
Cuscuta draconella |
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big seed alfalfa dodder, collared dodder, inelegant dodder, large-seed dodder |
dragon dodder |
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Stems | yellow to orange, slender to medium. |
pale 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. |
dense, glomerulate or fasciculate; bracts at base of clusters 1, at base of pedicels 1 or 2, ovate-triangular to linear, membranous, margins entire, midvein with 1–3(–5) hornlike, multicellular protuberances, apex cuspidate to long-attenuate, ± recurved. |
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Pedicels | 0.5–6 mm, usually papillate. |
0.1–6 mm, sometimes papillate. |
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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, 2.5–3.6(–4) mm, fleshy, papillate or not; calyx golden yellow to brown, campanulate, ± angled, equaling corolla tube length, divided 1/2–2/3 its length, reticulate and shiny or ± fleshy, lobes triangular-ovate or broadly ovate to subround, membranous, bases overlapping, margins irregularly serrulate, denticulate, or entire, midvein with 1 or 2(–5) hornlike, multicellular protuberances 0.1–0.3 mm, apex subacute, rounded, or obtuse; corolla white, drying creamy yellow, 2–3.5 mm, tube campanulate, 1.2–1.6 mm, not saccate, lobes spreading to reflexed, triangular-ovate, equaling corolla tube length, margins entire or irregularly denticulate, apex ± cucullate, acute, cuspidate (sometimes 2 or 3-cuspidate), mucronate, or truncate, inflexed; infrastaminal scales spatulate to obovate, 0.7–1 mm, 3/4 corolla tube length, bridged at 0.2–0.4 mm, densely fimbriate, fimbriae 0.2–0.3 mm; stamens exserted, shorter than corolla lobes; filaments 0.4–0.8 mm; anthers 0.5–0.8 × 0.4–0.5 mm; styles stout, filiform, 0.5–1.2 mm, shorter than to equaling 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. |
not seen, lack of dehiscence line in the ovary indicates they are 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. |
not seen. |
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Cuscuta indecora |
Cuscuta draconella |
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Phenology | Flowering Aug–Sep. | |||||||||
Habitat | Hosts: Atriplex, Gutierrezia, Thelesperma. | |||||||||
Elevation | 1600 m. [5200 ft.] | |||||||||
Distribution |
North America; Mexico; South America; West Indies
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NM; TX |
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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.) |
Some plants of Cuscuta draconella from Texas were formerly treated as C. decipiens Yuncker, which is known only from Zacatecas, Mexico. (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 | ||||||||||
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Name authority | Choisy: Mém. Soc. Phys. Genève 9: 278, plate 3, fig. 3. (1842) | Costea & Stefanović: Syst. Bot. 34: 577, figs. 1B–I, 4A–C. (2009) | ||||||||
Web links |