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big seed alfalfa dodder, collared dodder, inelegant dodder, large-seed dodder

tall dodder

Stems

yellow to orange, slender to medium.

greenish yellow to purple, spotted, coarse.

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.

spikes, racemes, or loose panicles with 1–3(–5)-flowered cymes, flowers sessile or short-pedicellate;

bracts at base of clusters and pedicels 1, ovate, margins entire, apex obtuse.

Pedicels

0.5–6 mm, usually papillate.

0–2 mm.

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, 4–5 mm, thick and fleshy, not papillate;

calyx yellow-brown, globose-campanulate, equaling corolla tube length, divided 2/3 its length, not reticulate or shiny, lobes ovate to orbiculate, bases overlapping, margins entire, partly hyaline, midvein sometimes ± carinate or thickened, apex rounded;

corolla white, drying yellow-brown, 3.8–4.8 mm, tube cylindric-campanulate, 2.8–3.5 mm, not saccate, lobes erect to spreading, ovate to suborbiculate, 1/4–1/3 tube length, margins entire, apex rounded;

infrastaminal scales oblong to ovate, 1.5–2 mm, 1/2–2/3 corolla tube length, bridged at 0.5–1 mm, 2-fid or with coarse fimbriae distally, 0.1–0.4 mm;

stamens included, shorter than corolla lobes;

filaments 0.1–0.3 mm;

anthers 0.3–0.5 × 0.3–0.5 mm;

styles 1, sometimes distally 2-fid or separating into 2 when pulled apart, 1–1.2 mm, ± equaling or longer than ovary, longer than stigmas;

stigmas depressed-globose, 0.1–0.5 mm.

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 to conic, 5–7(–10) × 3–5(–6) mm, not translucent, capped by withered corolla.

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, angled, broadly ellipsoid to ellipsoid or obovoid, 3–3.9 × 2.2–2.5 mm, hilum area lateral.

Cuscuta indecora

Cuscuta exaltata

Phenology Flowering May–Oct.
Habitat Hosts: Diospyros, Juglans, Quercus, Rhus, Ulmus, Vitis, and other woody plants.
Elevation 0–500 m. (0–1600 ft.)
Distribution
from USDA
North America; Mexico; South America; West Indies
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[BONAP county map]
from FNA
FL; TX
[BONAP county map]
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.)

Key
1. Calyces shorter than corolla tubes, divided 1/3–1/2 lengths, lobes triangular-ovate, bases overlapping.
var. indecora
1. Calyces longer than corolla tubes, divided 2/3 lengths, lobes lanceolate, bases not overlapping.
→ 2
2. Flower clusters loose; calyx lobe apices acute; hosts: herbs and woody plants, including Iva annua.
var. longisepala
2. Flower clusters dense; calyx lobe apices acute-attenuate; hosts: usually Iva annua, rarely Symphyotrichum.
var. attenuata
Source FNA vol. 14. FNA vol. 14.
Parent taxa Convolvulaceae > Cuscuta > subg. Grammica Convolvulaceae > Cuscuta > subg. Monogynella
Sibling taxa
C. americana, C. approximata, C. azteca, C. boldinghii, C. brachycalyx, C. californica, C. campestris, C. cephalanthi, C. chinensis, C. compacta, C. coryli, C. cuspidata, C. dentatasquamata, C. denticulata, C. draconella, C. epilinum, C. epithymum, C. erosa, C. europaea, C. exaltata, C. glabrior, C. glomerata, C. gronovii, C. harperi, C. howelliana, C. japonica, C. jepsonii, C. legitima, C. leptantha, C. liliputana, C. mitriformis, C. nevadensis, C. obtusiflora, C. occidentalis, C. odontolepis, C. pacifica, C. pentagona, C. plattensis, C. polygonorum, C. rostrata, C. runyonii, C. salina, C. squamata, C. suaveolens, C. subinclusa, C. suksdorfii, C. tuberculata, C. umbellata, C. umbrosa, C. warneri
C. americana, C. approximata, C. azteca, C. boldinghii, C. brachycalyx, C. californica, C. campestris, C. cephalanthi, C. chinensis, C. compacta, C. coryli, C. cuspidata, C. dentatasquamata, C. denticulata, C. draconella, C. epilinum, C. epithymum, C. erosa, C. europaea, C. glabrior, C. glomerata, C. gronovii, C. harperi, C. howelliana, C. indecora, C. japonica, C. jepsonii, C. legitima, C. leptantha, C. liliputana, C. mitriformis, C. nevadensis, C. obtusiflora, C. occidentalis, C. odontolepis, C. pacifica, C. pentagona, C. plattensis, C. polygonorum, C. rostrata, C. runyonii, C. salina, C. squamata, C. suaveolens, C. subinclusa, C. suksdorfii, C. tuberculata, C. umbellata, C. umbrosa, C. warneri
Subordinate taxa
C. indecora var. attenuata, C. indecora var. indecora, C. indecora var. longisepala
Name authority Choisy: Mém. Soc. Phys. Genève 9: 278, plate 3, fig. 3. (1842) Engelmann: Trans. Acad. Sci. St. Louis 1: 513. (1859)
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