Cuscuta indecora |
Cuscuta squamata |
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big seed alfalfa dodder, collared dodder, inelegant dodder, large-seed dodder |
scale-flower dodder |
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Stems | yellow to orange, slender to medium. |
yellow to orange, 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. |
dense, glomerulate or short-spiciform; bracts at base of clusters and flowers (2–)4 or 5(–10), ovate-orbiculate to ovate-triangular, membranous, margins denticulate, apex erect, acute to cuspidate. |
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Pedicels | 0.5–6 mm, usually papillate. |
absent. |
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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. |
5-merous, 5–6 mm, membranous, not papillate; calyx straw yellow, campanulate, 1/2–2/3 corolla tube length, divided to base or nearly so, finely reticulate, shiny, lobes ovate, broadly overlapping, margins denticulate, midvein not carinate, apex acute to cuspidate; corolla white, drying creamy, straw yellow, or light brown, 4–5.5 mm, tube cylindric, 2.4–3.5 mm, not saccate, lobes spreading to reflexed, ovate-lanceolate to oblong-ovate, 1/3–4/5 corolla tube length, margins entire, apex usually acute, sometimes cuspidate, straight; infrastaminal scales oblong, 2.4–3.4 mm, equaling corolla tube length, bridged at 0.7–1.5 mm, rounded, uniformly densely fimbriate, fimbriae 0.2–0.4 mm; stamens barely exserted, shorter than corolla lobes; filaments 0.5–0.7 mm; anthers 0.6–0.9 × 0.5–0.6 mm; styles filiform, 2.5–3.3 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. |
subglobose or ovoid to subconic, 3.4–4.5 × 2.2–3 mm, ± raised and thickened around relatively small interstylar aperture, not 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. |
2–4, slightly obcompressed, subglobose, broadly ellipsoid to obovoid, 1.5–1.7 × 1.1–1.3 mm, hilum area subterminal. |
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Cuscuta indecora |
Cuscuta squamata |
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Phenology | Flowering Mar–Oct. | |||||||||
Habitat | Hosts: Asteraceae and others. | |||||||||
Elevation | 900–1500 m. (3000–4900 ft.) | |||||||||
Distribution |
North America; Mexico; South America; West Indies
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NM; TX; Mexico |
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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 | ||||||||||
Name authority | Choisy: Mém. Soc. Phys. Genève 9: 278, plate 3, fig. 3. (1842) | Engelmann: Trans. Acad. Sci. St. Louis 1: 510. (1859) | ||||||||
Web links |