Cuscuta indecora |
Cuscuta leptantha |
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big seed alfalfa dodder, collared dodder, inelegant dodder, large-seed dodder |
slender dodder |
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Stems | yellow to orange, slender to medium. |
yellow, slender. |
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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, umbelliform; bracts at base of clusters 1, at base of pedicels 0 or 1, ovate, membranous, margins entire, apex acute. |
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Pedicels | 0.5–6 mm, usually papillate. |
0.7–7 mm, 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. |
4-merous, 3.5–4.5(–5) mm, membranous, perianth papillate; calyx straw yellow, campanulate, 1/3–1/2 corolla tube length, divided 1/2 its length, not reticulate or shiny, lobes triangular-ovate, bases not overlapping, margins entire, midvein not carinate, apex acute; corolla white, drying creamy white, 3–4 mm, tube cylindric, 1.5–2.5 mm, not saccate, lobes spreading to reflexed, lanceolate, equaling corolla tube, margins entire, often involute and appearing very narrow dry, apex acute, ± cucullate; infrastaminal scales oblong, 1.3–2.1 mm, 1/2 corolla tube length, bridged at 0.4–0.8 mm, rounded, uniformly short-fimbriate, fimbriae 0.05–0.1 mm; stamens exserted, shorter than corolla lobes; filaments 0.3–0.6 mm; anthers 0.4–0.6 × 0.3–0.4 mm; styles filiform, 1.2–2.1 mm, longer 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, 1.5–2 × 1.6–1.9 mm, slightly thickened and raised around inconspicuous interstylar aperture, translucent, capped by withered corolla, dehiscence circumscissile. |
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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 to broadly ellipsoid, 0.7–0.9 × 0.7–0.8 mm, hilum subterminal. |
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Cuscuta indecora |
Cuscuta leptantha |
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Phenology | Flowering Feb–Nov. | |||||||||
Habitat | Hosts: Euphorbia subg. Chamaesyce. | |||||||||
Elevation | 10–100 m. (0–300 ft.) | |||||||||
Distribution |
North America; Mexico; South America; West Indies
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NM; TX; Mexico (Baja California, Coahuila, Sinaloa, Sonora)
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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. Grammica | ||||||||
Sibling taxa | ||||||||||
Subordinate taxa | ||||||||||
Synonyms | C. palmeri | |||||||||
Name authority | Choisy: Mém. Soc. Phys. Genève 9: 278, plate 3, fig. 3. (1842) | Engelmann: Trans. Acad. Sci. St. Louis 1: 489. (1859) | ||||||||
Web links |