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bush-clover dodder, field dodder, five-angle dodder, western field dodder

goldenthread, Pacific salt-marsh dodder, salt marsh dodder

Stems

yellow to orange, slender to medium.

orange, slender.

Inflorescences

dense, corymbiform to glomerulate;

bracts at base of clusters 1, at base of pedicels 0 or 1, ovate or ovate-triangular to lanceolate, membranous, margins entire, apex acute.

dense, umbelliform to subglomerulate;

bracts at base of clusters 1, at base of pedicels 0 or 1, ovate to lanceolate, membranous, margins entire, apex acute to acuminate.

Pedicels

0.5–3(–4.5) mm.

0.5–2 mm, sometimes with domelike cells.

Flowers

(4 or)5-merous, 1.4–2.5 mm, membranous, corolla lobes sometimes papillate;

calyx yellow to brown, angled, cupulate, equaling corolla tube length, divided 1/2–2/3 its length, ± reticulate, shiny or not, lobes broadly ovate to rhombic, base auriculate, overlapping, forming prominent angles at sinuses, margins entire, midvein not carinate, without multicellular protuberances, apex rounded;

corolla whitish, drying yellow to brown, 1.2–2.2 mm, tube campanulate, 0.7–1.2 mm, not saccate, lobes spreading, triangular-lanceolate, equaling corolla tube length, margins entire, apex acute to acuminate, inflexed;

infrastaminal scales ovate to oblong, 0.7–1.4 mm, equaling or longer than corolla tube length, bridged at 0.3–0.5 mm, rounded, ± uniformly densely fimbriate, 0.15–0.25 mm;

stamens exserted, shorter than corolla lobes;

filaments 0.3–0.4 mm;

anthers 0.2–0.3 × 0.2–0.3 mm;

styles filiform, 0.7–1.1 mm, equaling ovary.

5-merous, 3.5–6 mm, membranous, papillate or corolla lobes, sometimes calyx, with domelike cells;

calyx creamy yellow, usually drying dull brown, rarely drying yellow, campanulate to cupulate, equaling corolla tube length, divided 2/3 its length, not reticulate or shiny, lobes ovate-triangular, bases slightly overlapping, margins entire, midvein not carinate, apex acute to acuminate;

corolla white, generally drying dark brown (rarely creamy yellow), 2.8–5.4 mm, tube campanulate, 1.5–2.6 mm, not saccate, lobes erect to spreading, broadly ovate to rhombic-ovate, equaling corolla tube length, bases overlapping, margins entire or irregular, apex usually acute to cuspidate, sometimes appearing tridentate, straight;

infrastaminal scales oblong to slightly obovate, 1–1.5 mm, 1/2–3/4 corolla tube length, bridged at 0.3–0.5 mm, with few short fimbriae 0.05–0.1 mm;

stamens included in completely open flower, shorter than corolla lobes;

filaments 0.3–0.6 mm;

anthers 0.3–0.6 × 0.3–0.5 mm;

styles filiform, 0.4–0.9 mm, shorter than ovary.

Capsules

depressed-globose to ovoid, 1.9–2.4 × 1.6–2.5 mm, not thickened or raised around relatively medium-sized to large interstylar aperture, translucent or not, base ± enveloped by withered corolla, indehiscent.

ovoid, 2–3.6 × 1.4–2.1 mm, thickened around relatively small interstylar aperture, not translucent, surrounded by withered corolla, indehiscent.

Seeds

4, angled, subglobose to broadly ellipsoid, 0.9–1.1 × 0.8–1 mm, hilum region subterminal.

1 or 2, ± obcompressed, broadly ellipsoid to subglobose, 1.4–1.9 × 1.2–1.4 mm, hilum subterminal.

2n

= 56.

Cuscuta pentagona

Cuscuta pacifica

Phenology Flowering Apr–Nov.
Habitat Hosts: herbs.
Elevation 0–900 m. (0–3000 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
AL; AR; DC; DE; FL; GA; IL; IN; KS; MA; MD; MI; MN; MO; MS; MT; NC; ND; NJ; NY; OK; PA; SC; SD; TN; TX; VA; MB
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
w North America; nw Mexico
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Cuscuta pentagona apparently has not spread outside of North America, where it is less common than C. campestris. It is currently included in North American noxious weeds lists although there is no evidence it attacks crops.

G. Engelmann (1859) distinguished four varieties of Cuscuta pentagona: var. calycina, var. microcalyx, var. pentagona, and var. verrucosa (Engelmann) Yuncker. T. G. Yuncker (1932, 1965) treated var. calycina and var. verrucosa at specific rank and provided a new name for each: C. campestris and C. glabrior, respectively. Cuscuta glabrior is currently accepted by all the North American overviews; C. campestris has been persistently considered a synonym of C. pentagona despite morphological and evolutionary evidence that the two are distinct (M. Costea et al. 2006c, 2015).

Cuscuta pentagona differs from C. campestris in its rhombic to ovate, auriculate calyx lobes with overlapping bases that form angles at sinuses and in its smaller flowers, capsules, and seeds.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Varieties 2 (2 in the flora).

Cuscuta pacifica was segregated from C. salina based on their different morphology, reproductive biology, host range, geographical distribution, and ecology (M. Costea et al. 2009).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Key
1. Pedicels not papillate; calyces not papillate.
var. pacifica
1. Pedicels papillate; calyces papillate.
var. papillata
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. indecora, C. japonica, C. jepsonii, C. legitima, C. leptantha, C. liliputana, C. mitriformis, C. nevadensis, C. obtusiflora, C. occidentalis, C. odontolepis, C. pacifica, 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. 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
Subordinate taxa
C. pacifica var. pacifica, C. pacifica var. papillata
Synonyms C. arvensis, C. pentagona var. microcalyx, Grammica pentagona
Name authority Engelmann: Amer. J. Sci. Arts 43: 340, plate 6, figs. 22–24. (1842) Costea & M. A. R. Wright: Syst. Bot. 34: 792, fig. 6. (2009)
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