Cuscuta indecora |
Cuscuta gronovii |
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big seed alfalfa dodder, collared dodder, inelegant dodder, large-seed dodder |
common dodder, cuscute de gronovius, love dodder, scaldweed |
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Stems | yellow to orange, slender to medium. |
yellow to orange, 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. |
loose or dense, paniculiform, sometimes originating endogenously; bracts at base of clusters 1, at base of pedicels 0 or 1, rarely 1 or 2(or 3) on pedicels, ovate to broadly triangular, membranous, margins entire or serrulate, apex acute to obtuse. |
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Pedicels | 0.5–6 mm, usually papillate. |
1–4.5 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, 2–4 mm, membranous, not papillate; calyx yellow-brown, cupulate or campanulate to narrowly campanulate, 1/2 to equaling corolla tube length, divided 1/2–2/3 its length, not reticulate or shiny, lobes ovate to suborbiculate or oblong, bases barely to notably overlapping, margins entire to serrulate, midvein not carinate, apex rounded or obtuse; corolla white fresh or dry, 1.8–4 mm, tube broadly to narrowly campanulate, 1–2.5(–3) mm, not saccate, lobes spreading to reflexed, mostly ovate, (1/4–)1/3 or 1/2 to equaling corolla tube length, margins entire, apex rounded to obtuse, straight; infrastaminal scales oblong, 1–2.5 mm, equaling corolla tube length, bridged at 0.4–0.8 mm, sparsely fimbriate, fimbriae 0.4–0.8 mm; stamens exserted, shorter than to equaling corolla lobes; filaments 0.4–0.7(–1) mm; anthers 0.3–0.6 × 0.3–0.4 mm; styles usually filiform, sometimes slightly subulate, (0.6–)1.2–2.2 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. |
ovoid to conic-globose or subobpyriform, 2.5–4.5(–5.2) × 2–4(–5) mm, raised and ± thickened around relatively small to moderately large interstylar aperture, rarely apically narrowed into neck to 1 mm, not translucent, loosely surrounded or capped by withered corolla, 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. |
2–4, obcompressed to obscurely angled, subglobose to broadly ovoid, 1.3–1.7(–2.2) × 1.2–1.6 mm, hilum region subterminal. |
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Cuscuta indecora |
Cuscuta gronovii |
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Distribution |
North America; Mexico; South America; West Indies
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North America; West Indies [Introduced in Europe]
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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.) |
Varieties 3 (3 in the flora). (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 | ||||||||||||||||
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Name authority | Choisy: Mém. Soc. Phys. Genève 9: 278, plate 3, fig. 3. (1842) | Willdenow in J. J. Roemer et al.: Syst. Veg. 6: 205. (1820) | ||||||||||||||||
Web links |