Cuscuta indecora |
Cuscuta harperi |
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big seed alfalfa dodder, collared dodder, inelegant dodder, large-seed dodder |
Harper's dodder |
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Stems | yellow to orange, slender to medium. |
orange-yellow, filiform. |
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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, corymbiform; bracts at base of clusters 1, at base of pedicels 0(or 1), ovate-triangular, membranous, margins entire, apex acute. |
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Pedicels | 0.5–6 mm, usually papillate. |
0.5–2.5(–3) 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, 0.9–1.1(–1.5) mm, fleshy, corolla lobes papillate; calyx brownish yellow, angled, cupulate, equaling corolla tube length, divided 1/2–2/3 its length, ± reticulate, rarely shiny, lobes broadly ovate-rhombic, bases ± auriculate, overlapping, forming prominent angles at sinuses, margins entire, midvein ± carinate, apex rounded; corolla white, drying cream to brownish, 0.9–1.2 mm, tube campanulate, 0.5–0.7 mm, not saccate, lobes reflexed, triangular-ovate, equaling corolla tube length, margins entire, apex subacute to acute, inflexed; infrastaminal scales narrowly oblong to obovate, 0.6–0.9 mm, equaling or longer than corolla tube length, bridged at 0.2–0.3 mm, rounded, sparsely fimbriate, fimbriae 0.1–0.3 mm; stamens exserted, slightly shorter than corolla lobes; filaments 0.1–0.2 mm; anthers 0.2–0.3 × 0.2–0.3 mm; styles filiform, 0.5–0.9 mm, shorter 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 to ovoid, 1.2–2.3 × 1.2–1.6 mm, not thickened around relatively small to moderately large interstylar aperture, ± translucent, withered corolla enveloping 1/4–1/3 of base, 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. |
1 or 2, subglobose, with longitudinal groove on adaxial face, 0.9–1.1 × 0.8–1.1 mm, hilum region terminal. |
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Cuscuta indecora |
Cuscuta harperi |
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Phenology | Flowering Sep–Nov. | |||||||||
Habitat | sandstone, less frequently, granite outcrops. | |||||||||
Elevation | 200–600 m. [700–2000 ft.] | |||||||||
Distribution |
North America; Mexico; South America; West Indies
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AL; GA |
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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 harperi is closely allied with C. pentagona (M. Costea et al. 2015), from which it differs in smaller, four-merous flowers. (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 | ||||||||||
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Name authority | Choisy: Mém. Soc. Phys. Genève 9: 278, plate 3, fig. 3. (1842) | Small: Fl. S.E. U.S. ed. 2, 1361, 1375. (1913) | ||||||||
Web links |