Cuscuta indecora |
Cuscuta europaea |
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big seed alfalfa dodder, collared dodder, inelegant dodder, large-seed dodder |
greater dodder |
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Stems | yellow to orange, slender to medium. |
yellowish to reddish, medium to 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. |
bracts ovate to lanceolate, membranous, margins entire, apex obtuse to acute. |
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Pedicels | 0.5–6 mm, usually papillate. |
0–1.5 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, 3–5 mm, fleshy; papillae absent; calyx creamy yellow to brownish, cupulate to obconic, shorter than to equaling corolla tube length, divided 1/2–3/4 its length, not reticulate or shiny, lobes ovate to triangular-ovate, bases not overlapping, margins entire, apex obtuse to rounded; corolla white or pink, drying yellow-brown, campanulate to urceolate, 2.2–4.7 mm, tube 1.7–3.3 mm, not saccate, lobes usually erect, sometimes spreading, triangular-ovate, 1/3–1/2 corolla tube length, margins entire, apex obtuse to truncate, straight; infrastaminal scales oblong, often 2-fid, 1–1.2 mm, 1/2 corolla tube length, bridged at 0.4–0.6 mm, short-fimbriate apically, fimbriae 0.1–0.3 mm; stamens included, shorter than corolla lobes; filaments 0.2–0.5 mm; anthers 0.2–0.5 × 0.2–0.4 mm; styles terete; style plus stigmas 0.6–1.2 mm, shorter than ovary; stigmas cylindric to clavate, 0.3–0.6 mm, shorter than to 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. |
ovoid, globose-conic, or pyriform, 1.6–4 × 2–4 mm, not thickened or raised around interstylar aperture, ± 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. |
2–4, angled, subglobose, broadly ellipsoid, or ovoid, 1.2–1.5 × 0.9–1.3 mm, hilum region terminal. |
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2n | = 14. |
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Cuscuta indecora |
Cuscuta europaea |
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Phenology | Flowering Jul–Sep. | |||||||||
Habitat | it can parasitize numerous other hosts both herbaceous and woody. | |||||||||
Elevation | 20–200 m. (100–700 ft.) | |||||||||
Distribution |
North America; Mexico; South America; West Indies
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ME; NY; Europe [Introduced in North America; introduced also in South America, Asia (China, Japan), n Africa] |
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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. Cuscuta | ||||||||
Sibling taxa | ||||||||||
Subordinate taxa | ||||||||||
Name authority | Choisy: Mém. Soc. Phys. Genève 9: 278, plate 3, fig. 3. (1842) | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 124. (1753) | ||||||||
Web links |