Cuscuta indecora |
Cuscuta epilinum |
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big seed alfalfa dodder, collared dodder, inelegant dodder, large-seed dodder |
cuscute du lin, flax dodder |
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Stems | yellow to orange, slender to medium. |
yellow-orange, slender to 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. |
bracts ovate, membranous, margins entire, apex obtuse. |
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Pedicels | 0.5–6 mm, usually papillate. |
absent. |
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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, 3–4 mm, membranous; papillae absent; calyx creamy yellow, cupulate, equaling or longer than corolla tube, divided 1/2–2/3 its length, not notably reticulate or shiny, lobes broadly ovate, bases overlapping, margins entire, apex acute to acuminate; corolla white, drying creamy yellow, initially globose, later urceolate, 2.8–3.7 mm, tube 2.5–3 mm, not saccate, lobes erect to spreading, ovate-triangular, 1/4–1/3(–1/2) corolla tube length, margins entire, apex subobtuse to acute, straight to incurved; infrastaminal scales spatulate, 0.8–1.5 mm, 1/2–4/5 corolla tube length, bridged at 0.3–0.5 mm, base truncate, entire or 2-fid, short-fimbriate apically, fimbriae 0.03–0.15 mm; stamens included or barely exserted, shorter than corolla lobes; filaments 0.2–0.4 mm; anthers 0.3–0.5 × 0.3–0.4 mm; styles slightly subulate; style plus stigmas 0.5–1.1 mm, shorter than ovary; stigmas cylindric to terete, 0.3–0.6 mm, ± equaling styles. |
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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. |
depressed-globose, ± angular, 2.8–3.5 × 3–4.2 mm, not thickened or raised around interstylar aperture, not translucent, capped by withered corolla. |
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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. |
4, usually connate in pairs, angled, subglobose or broadly ellipsoid to ovoid, 1.1–1.2 × 0.9–1 mm, hilum region terminal. |
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2n | = 42. |
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Cuscuta indecora |
Cuscuta epilinum |
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Phenology | Flowering Jun–Jul. | |||||||||
Habitat | Hosts: primarily Linum usitatissimum but once established on flax, it may also attach to secondary hosts such as Camelina sativa and Guizotia abyssinica. | |||||||||
Elevation | 0–200 m. (0–700 ft.) | |||||||||
Distribution |
North America; Mexico; South America; West Indies
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DE; MA; MD; MI; NJ; NY; OH; PA; VT; WA; WY; QC; Europe; Asia [Introduced in North 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 epilinum is an ephemeral associated exclusively with flax. It apparently coevolved with flax since its domestication in the Nile Valley or the Middle East (M. A. García and M. P. Martín 2007). (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. Cuscuta | ||||||||
Sibling taxa | ||||||||||
Subordinate taxa | ||||||||||
Name authority | Choisy: Mém. Soc. Phys. Genève 9: 278, plate 3, fig. 3. (1842) | Weihe ex Boenninghausen: Prodr. Fl. Monast. Westphal., 75. (1824) | ||||||||
Web links |