Cuscuta indecora |
Cuscuta erosa |
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big seed alfalfa dodder, collared dodder, inelegant dodder, large-seed dodder |
Sonoran dodder |
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Stems | yellow to orange, slender to medium. |
white to creamy yellow, 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. |
loose to moderately dense, paniculiform or corymbiform; bracts at base of clusters 1, at base of pedicels 0 or 1, ovate-triangular to lanceolate, membranous, margins entire or serrulate-denticulate, apex obtuse to acute. |
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Pedicels | 0.5–6 mm, usually papillate. |
1.5–6 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, 3.5–4.5 mm, membranous, not papillate; calyx yellow, cupulate, 3/4 to ± equaling corolla tube length, divided 1/2–2/3 its length, finely reticulate, shiny, lobes orbiculate to oblong-obovate, bases overlapping, margins minutely erose or denticulate, membranous, midvein carinate, apex ± truncate, each not exceeded by a hornlike appendage, 0.1–0.2 mm; corolla creamy white, drying creamy white to reddish brown, 3.2–4 mm, tube campanulate, 1.5–2.2 mm, not saccate, sometimes with horizontal ridges between stamen attachments, lobes erect or spreading to reflexed, oblong-obovate to orbiculate, shorter than to equaling corolla tube length, margins minutely erose or denticulate, membranous, midvein unevenly carinate, apex ± truncate, each with a hornlike appendage 0.1–0.2 mm, not exceeding apex, straight; infrastaminal scales oblong to ± truncate, 1.5–2 mm, 3/4 to equaling corolla tube length, bridged at 0.4–0.6 mm, uniformly densely fimbriate, fimbriae 0.2–0.4 mm; stamens exserted, shorter than corolla lobes; filaments 0.4–1 mm; anthers 0.7–1 × 0.4–0.5 mm; styles stout, subulate, 1.8–3.2 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, 2–2.5 × 2.2–2.5 mm, thickened, not raised around inconspicuous interstylar aperture, not translucent, withered corolla near middle or apical, 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 to ovoid, 0.9–1.4 × 0.8–1.3 mm, papillate, hilum region terminal. |
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Cuscuta indecora |
Cuscuta erosa |
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Phenology | Flowering Aug–Oct. | |||||||||
Habitat | desert scrub. | |||||||||
Elevation | 400–1300 m. (1300–4300 ft.) | |||||||||
Distribution |
North America; Mexico; South America; West Indies
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AZ; Mexico (Baja California, Sinaloa, Sonora) |
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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 | 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) | Yuncker: Illinois Biol. Monogr. 6: 116, plate 2, fig. 8, plate 10, fig. 61. (1921) | ||||||||
Web links |