Cuscuta indecora |
Cuscuta umbrosa |
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big seed alfalfa dodder, collared dodder, inelegant dodder, large-seed dodder |
big-fruit dodder |
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Stems | yellow to orange, slender to medium. |
yellow to orange, coarse. |
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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, paniculiform; bracts at base of clusters 1, at base of pedicels 0(or 1), ovate to broadly triangular, membranous, margins entire, apex acute to obtuse. |
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Pedicels | 0.5–6 mm, usually papillate. |
0.9–7 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. |
5-merous, 2–3.5(–4.4) mm, membranous, not papillate; calyx brownish, campanulate, to 1/2 corolla tube length, divided 1/2–2/3 its length, not reticulate or shiny, lobes ovate, bases overlapping, margins entire or serrulate, midvein not carinate, apex obtuse to rounded; corolla creamy white, drying creamy brownish, 2–4 mm, tube campanulate, 1.7–2.3(–2.7) mm, not saccate, lobes spreading to reflexed, ovate to broadly triangular-ovate, 1/4–1/3 corolla tube length, margins entire, apex rounded to obtuse, straight; infrastaminal scales broadly oblong, 1.2–2 mm, (1/3–)1/2 corolla tube length, bridged at 0.5–1 mm, ± truncate to 2-lobed apically, fimbriate mostly in distal 1/2, fimbriae 0.2–0.6 mm; stamens exserted, shorter than corolla lobes; filaments 0.4–0.7 mm; anthers 0.3–0.6 × 0.2–0.4 mm; styles slender, 0.3–0.9 mm, 1/4 ovary length, slightly thickened at base. |
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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. |
ovoid to globose-conic or subobpyriform, 3.5–6.5(–7) × 3–5(–6) mm, raised and thickened around relatively small interstylar aperture, apex rarely narrowed into neck to 1 mm, not translucent, surrounding capsule 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. |
3 or 4, obcompressed to obscurely angled, broadly ellipsoid to obovoid, 1.8–2.5(–2.8) × 1.5–1.6 mm, hilum region subterminal. |
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Cuscuta indecora |
Cuscuta umbrosa |
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Phenology | Flowering Jul–Oct. | |||||||||
Habitat | Hosts: Ampelopsis, Clematis, Convolvulus, Epilobium, Humulus, Impatiens, Lactuca, Linum, Salix, Scutellaria, Solidago, Symphoricarpos, Urtica, and others. | |||||||||
Elevation | 50–2100 m. [160–6900 ft.] | |||||||||
Distribution |
North America; Mexico; South America; West Indies
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CO; IA; ID; IL; KS; MN; MT; ND; NE; NM; SD; UT; WI; WY; AB; MB; ON; SK |
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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.) |
Navajo Indians of the southwestern United States added seeds of Cuscuta umbrosa to soups or stews (E. F. Castetter 1935). (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 | ||||||||||
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Synonyms | C. curta, C. megalocarpa | |||||||||
Name authority | Choisy: Mém. Soc. Phys. Genève 9: 278, plate 3, fig. 3. (1842) | Beyrich ex Hooker: Fl. Bor.-Amer. 2: 78. (1837) | ||||||||
Web links |