Cuscuta indecora |
Cuscuta nevadensis |
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big seed alfalfa dodder, collared dodder, inelegant dodder, large-seed dodder |
desert dodder |
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Stems | yellow to orange, slender to medium. |
light 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. |
loose, umbelliform; bracts at base of clusters 1, at base of pedicels 0 or 1, lanceolate to ovate-lanceolate, membranous, margins ± entire, apex acute. |
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Pedicels | 0.5–6 mm, usually papillate. |
(0.5–)2.5–4 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, (2.8–)3–4(–5) mm, membranous, receptacle and base of perianth fleshy, not papillate; calyx golden yellow to brownish, narrowly campanulate, equaling corolla tube length, divided 2/3 its length, reticulate and shiny, lobes lanceolate, bases overlapping, margins ± entire, midvein not carinate, apex acute to acuminate; corolla white, drying brownish yellow, 2.8–4 mm, tube campanulate, 1.3–2 mm, not saccate, lobes reflexed, ovate to oblong, equaling or longer than corolla tube length, margins entire or irregularly denticulate, apex acute, straight; infrastaminal scales ovate to oblong, 1.3–1.8 mm, equaling corolla tube length, bridged at 0.4–0.6 mm, truncate to rounded, margins uniformly fimbriate, fimbriae 0.1–0.2 mm; stamens included or slightly exserted, shorter than corolla lobes; filaments (0–)0.1–0.3 mm; anthers 0.5–0.8 × 0.3–0.4 mm; styles uniformly filiform, 0.5–1 mm, 1/2 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. |
globose-ovoid to ovoid, 1.4–2.1 × 1.2–2 mm, not thickened to raised around inconspicuous interstylar aperture, translucent, 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. |
1, globose-ovoid, 0.9–1.2 × 0.8–1.08 mm, hilum region terminal, embryo base globose-enlarged. |
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Cuscuta indecora |
Cuscuta nevadensis |
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Phenology | Flowering May–Jul. | |||||||||
Habitat | Hosts: usually Ambrosia dumosa, Atriplex confertifolia, A. hymenelytra, A. polycarpa, Psorothamnus fremontii, Suaeda nigra; rarely Acamptopappus, Brassica, Dedeckera, Lycium, and Stephanomeria; salt-desert shrubland. | |||||||||
Elevation | 400–1500 m. (1300–4900 ft.) | |||||||||
Distribution |
North America; Mexico; South America; West Indies
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CA; NV |
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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 nevadensis is viviparous; its seeds germinate inside fruits enclosed by perianths and attached to the parent plant (M. Costea et al. 2005). (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. veatchii var. apoda | |||||||||
Name authority | Choisy: Mém. Soc. Phys. Genève 9: 278, plate 3, fig. 3. (1842) | I. M. Johnston: Proc. Calif. Acad. Sci., ser. 4, 12: 1133. (1924) | ||||||||
Web links |