Cuscuta indecora |
Cuscuta indecora var. indecora |
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big seed alfalfa dodder, collared dodder, inelegant dodder, large-seed dodder |
big seed alfalfa dodder, collared dodder, large-seed dodder |
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Stems | yellow to orange, slender to 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. |
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Pedicels | 0.5–6 mm, usually papillate. |
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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. |
clusters loose to dense. |
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Calyces | 1–2 mm, shorter than corolla tube, divided 1/3–1/2 length, lobes triangular-ovate, bases overlapping, apex acute. |
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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. |
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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. |
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2n | = 30. |
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Cuscuta indecora |
Cuscuta indecora var. indecora |
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Phenology | Flowering Apr–Nov. | |||||||||
Habitat | Hosts: Acacia, Agalinis, Anulocaulis, Artemisia, Asclepias, Baccharis, Borrichia, Chenopodium, Clematis, Convolvulus, Eupatorium, Grindelia, Helenium, Helianthus, Heterotheca, Hypericum, Ipomoea, Kosteletzkya, Lactuca, Lepidium, Ligustrum, Malvastrum, Medicago, Mimosa, Myrica, Parthenium, Pithecellobium, Pluchea, Polygonum, Rhynchosia, Salsola, Solidago, Suaeda, Symphyotrichum, Tecoma, Tephrosia, Vernonia, and others. | |||||||||
Elevation | 0–1900 m. (0–6200 ft.) | |||||||||
Distribution |
North America; Mexico; South America; West Indies
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AL; AR; AZ; CA; CO; CT; FL; GA; IA; ID; IL; KS; KY; LA; MD; MI; MN; MO; MS; MT; NC; ND; NE; NJ; NM; NV; OK; SC; SD; TN; TX; UT; VA; WA; WV; WY; SK; Mexico; South America; West Indies |
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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.) |
Variety bifida was noted by T. G. Yuncker (1965) to occur infrequently throughout the range of var. indecora. It is found that the infrastaminal scales of var. bifida are not truly bifid; they are spatulate with two or three, sometimes four, deeper apical incisions that create two or three, sometimes four lobes that are further fimbriate. So-called normal scales may occur in the same flower together with lobed ones. Such plants are regarded as populational variants of var. indecora. Bifid scales are characteristic of C. coryli, not C. indecora (M. Costea et al. 2006). Variety indecora is the second most common and widespread taxon of the genus in the flora area, after Cuscuta campestris. It is a particularly troublesome weed in alfalfa and currently continues to spread through contaminated seeds worldwide. (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 > Cuscuta indecora | ||||||||
Sibling taxa | ||||||||||
Subordinate taxa | ||||||||||
Synonyms | C. indecora var. bifida, C. indecora var. neuropetala | |||||||||
Name authority | Choisy: Mém. Soc. Phys. Genève 9: 278, plate 3, fig. 3. (1842) | unknown | ||||||||
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