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

cuscute du lin, flax dodder

Stems

yellow to orange, slender to medium.

yellow-orange, slender to medium.

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.

bracts ovate, membranous, margins entire, apex obtuse.

Pedicels

0.5–3(–4.5) mm.

absent.

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, 3–4 mm, membranous;

papillae absent;

calyx creamy yellow, cupulate, equaling or longer than corolla tube, divided 1/2–2/3 its length, not notably reticulate or shiny, lobes broadly ovate, bases overlapping, margins entire, apex acute to acuminate;

corolla white, drying creamy yellow, initially globose, later urceolate, 2.8–3.7 mm, tube 2.5–3 mm, not saccate, lobes erect to spreading, ovate-triangular, 1/4–1/3(–1/2) corolla tube length, margins entire, apex subobtuse to acute, straight to incurved;

infrastaminal scales spatulate, 0.8–1.5 mm, 1/2–4/5 corolla tube length, bridged at 0.3–0.5 mm, base truncate, entire or 2-fid, short-fimbriate apically, fimbriae 0.03–0.15 mm;

stamens included or barely exserted, shorter than corolla lobes;

filaments 0.2–0.4 mm;

anthers 0.3–0.5 × 0.3–0.4 mm;

styles slightly subulate;

style plus stigmas 0.5–1.1 mm, shorter than ovary;

stigmas cylindric to terete, 0.3–0.6 mm, ± equaling styles.

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.

depressed-globose, ± angular, 2.8–3.5 × 3–4.2 mm, not thickened or raised around interstylar aperture, not translucent, capped by withered corolla.

Seeds

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

4, usually connate in pairs, angled, subglobose or broadly ellipsoid to ovoid, 1.1–1.2 × 0.9–1 mm, hilum region terminal.

2n

= 56.

= 42.

Cuscuta pentagona

Cuscuta epilinum

Phenology Flowering Apr–Nov. Flowering Jun–Jul.
Habitat Hosts: herbs. Hosts: primarily Linum usitatissimum but once established on flax, it may also attach to secondary hosts such as Camelina sativa and Guizotia abyssinica.
Elevation 0–900 m. (0–3000 ft.) 0–200 m. (0–700 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]
from FNA
DE; MA; MD; MI; NJ; NY; OH; PA; VT; WA; WY; QC; Europe; Asia [Introduced in North America]
[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.)

Cuscuta epilinum is an ephemeral associated exclusively with flax. It apparently coevolved with flax since its domestication in the Nile Valley or the Middle East (M. A. García and M. P. Martín 2007).

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

Source FNA vol. 14. FNA vol. 14.
Parent taxa Convolvulaceae > Cuscuta > subg. Grammica Convolvulaceae > Cuscuta > subg. Cuscuta
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. 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. squamata, C. suaveolens, C. subinclusa, C. suksdorfii, C. tuberculata, C. umbellata, C. umbrosa, C. warneri
Synonyms C. arvensis, C. pentagona var. microcalyx, Grammica pentagona
Name authority Engelmann: Amer. J. Sci. Arts 43: 340, plate 6, figs. 22–24. (1842) Weihe ex Boenninghausen: Prodr. Fl. Monast. Westphal., 75. (1824)
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