The green links below add additional plants to the comparison table. Blue links lead to other Web sites.
enable glossary links

big seed alfalfa dodder, collared dodder, inelegant dodder, large-seed dodder

scale-flower dodder

Stems

yellow to orange, slender to medium.

yellow to orange, slender.

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.

Pedicels

0.5–6 mm, usually papillate.

absent.

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.

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.

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.

Cuscuta indecora

Cuscuta squamata

Phenology Flowering Mar–Oct.
Habitat Hosts: Asteraceae and others.
Elevation 900–1500 m. (3000–4900 ft.)
Distribution
from USDA
North America; Mexico; South America; West Indies
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
NM; TX; Mexico
[BONAP county map]
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.)

Key
1. Calyces shorter than corolla tubes, divided 1/3–1/2 lengths, lobes triangular-ovate, bases overlapping.
var. indecora
1. Calyces longer than corolla tubes, divided 2/3 lengths, lobes lanceolate, bases not overlapping.
→ 2
2. Flower clusters loose; calyx lobe apices acute; hosts: herbs and woody plants, including Iva annua.
var. longisepala
2. Flower clusters dense; calyx lobe apices acute-attenuate; hosts: usually Iva annua, rarely Symphyotrichum.
var. attenuata
Source FNA vol. 14. FNA vol. 14.
Parent taxa Convolvulaceae > Cuscuta > subg. Grammica Convolvulaceae > Cuscuta > subg. Grammica
Sibling taxa
C. americana, C. approximata, C. azteca, C. boldinghii, C. brachycalyx, C. californica, C. campestris, C. cephalanthi, C. chinensis, C. compacta, C. coryli, C. cuspidata, C. dentatasquamata, C. denticulata, C. draconella, C. epilinum, C. epithymum, C. erosa, C. europaea, C. exaltata, C. glabrior, C. glomerata, C. gronovii, C. harperi, C. howelliana, C. japonica, C. jepsonii, C. legitima, C. leptantha, C. liliputana, C. mitriformis, C. nevadensis, C. obtusiflora, C. occidentalis, C. odontolepis, C. pacifica, C. pentagona, C. plattensis, C. polygonorum, C. rostrata, C. runyonii, C. salina, C. squamata, C. suaveolens, C. subinclusa, C. suksdorfii, C. tuberculata, C. umbellata, C. umbrosa, C. warneri
C. americana, C. approximata, C. azteca, C. boldinghii, C. brachycalyx, C. californica, C. campestris, C. cephalanthi, C. chinensis, C. compacta, C. coryli, C. cuspidata, C. dentatasquamata, C. denticulata, C. draconella, C. epilinum, C. epithymum, C. erosa, C. europaea, C. exaltata, C. glabrior, C. glomerata, C. gronovii, C. harperi, C. howelliana, C. indecora, C. japonica, C. jepsonii, C. legitima, C. leptantha, C. liliputana, C. mitriformis, C. nevadensis, C. obtusiflora, C. occidentalis, C. odontolepis, C. pacifica, C. pentagona, C. plattensis, C. polygonorum, C. rostrata, C. runyonii, C. salina, C. suaveolens, C. subinclusa, C. suksdorfii, C. tuberculata, C. umbellata, C. umbrosa, C. warneri
Subordinate taxa
C. indecora var. attenuata, C. indecora var. indecora, C. indecora var. longisepala
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