Cuscuta polygonorum |
Cuscuta glomerata |
|
---|---|---|
cuscute des renouées, smartweed dodder |
rope dodder |
|
Stems | yellow-orange, slender to medium. |
orange, medium. |
Inflorescences | dense, glomerulate; bracts at base of clusters 1, at base of pedicels 0–1, ovate-triangular to lanceolate, membranous, margins entire, apex acute. |
extremely dense, continuous (cymes indiscernible), ropelike, spiraling around and closely appressed to host stem, flowers sessile, commonly originating endogenously; bracts at base of clusters, pedicels, and/or flowers 4–11, narrowly triangular to lanceolate, folded-concave, membranous, margins serrate or lacerate, apex acute, recurved. |
Pedicels | 0–1 mm. |
absent. |
Flowers | (3 or)4-merous, 2–2.7 mm, membranous, not papillate; calyx brownish yellow, cupulate, equaling corolla tube length, divided 1/2–2/3 its length, not reticulate or shiny, lobes triangular-ovate, bases not overlapping, margins entire, midvein not carinate, without hornlike appendages, apex obtuse to rounded; corolla white, drying yellow-brown, 1.8–2.5 mm, tube cupulate to shallowly campanulate, 1–1.4 mm, not saccate, lobes erect, triangular, equaling or longer than corolla tube length, margins entire, apex acute, inflexed; infrastaminal scales usually well developed, sometimes poorly developed, oblong, 0.8–1.2 mm, shorter than to equaling corolla tube length, bridged at 0.1–0.2 mm, mostly shallowly 2-fid with 1–3 fimbriae on each side of filament attachment or irregularly fimbriate at apex, fimbriae (0.05–)0.1–0.3 mm; stamens exserted, shorter than to ± equaling corolla lobes; filaments 0.4–0.8 mm; anthers 0.3–0.4 × 0.2–0.3 mm; styles subulate, 0.4–0.9 mm, shorter than ovary. |
5-merous, 5–6 mm, membranous, not papillate; calyx stramineous yellow, campanulate-turbinate, equaling corolla tube length, divided to base or nearly so, reticulate, shiny, lobes narrowly triangular to lanceolate, bases overlapping, margins serrate to irregular, midvein not carinate, apex obtuse to acute; corolla white, drying stramineous yellow or brownish, 4.5–5.4 mm, tube cylindric, 3.6–4.4 mm, not saccate, lobes spreading to reflexed, oblong-lanceolate, 1/5–1/4 corolla tube length, margins entire, apex acute to obtuse, straight; infrastaminal scales oblong, 2.5–3 mm, 3/4 corolla tube length, bridged at 1.3–1.7 mm, rounded, ± uniformly fimbriate, fimbriae 0.3–0.5 mm; stamens exserted, shorter than corolla lobes; filaments 0.5–0.7 mm; anthers 0.6–0.8 × 0.3–0.4 mm; styles filiform, 2–3 mm, longer than ovary. |
Capsules | depressed-globose, often appearing angled, 1.6–3 × 2.5–5 mm, not thickened or raised around relatively large interstylar aperture, not translucent, base ± enveloped by withered corolla, indehiscent. |
globose to flask-shaped, 3.5–6 × 2–3.5 mm, thickened and raised in collar around style bases, not translucent, capped by withered corolla, indehiscent. |
Seeds | 3 or 4, obcompressed, subglobose or broadly ovoid to broadly ellipsoid, 1.4–1.6 × 1.2–1.3 mm, hilum region subterminal. |
1 or 2, slightly obcompressed, subglobose, or ovoid, 1.4–1.7 × 1.2–1.6 mm, hilum region terminal. |
2n | = 30. |
|
Cuscuta polygonorum |
Cuscuta glomerata |
|
Phenology | Flowering Jul–Oct. | Flowering Jul–Oct. |
Habitat | margins of streams, lakes, swamps, flood plains. | Hosts: Ambrosia, Asclepias, Helenium, Helianthus, Liatris, Silphium, Solidago, Symphyotrichum, Vernonia, and others. |
Elevation | 30–500 m. (100–1600 ft.) | 100–1000 m. (300–3300 ft.) |
Distribution |
AR; CT; DC; DE; IA; IL; IN; KS; KY; LA; MA; MD; ME; MI; MN; MO; ND; NE; NJ; NY; OH; OK; PA; RI; TN; TX; VA; WI; ON; QC
|
AR; IA; IL; IN; KS; KY; LA; MI; MN; MO; MS; ND; NE; OH; OK; SD; TN; TX; WI
|
Discussion | Inflorescences in ropelike spirals and capsules with necklike collars provide instant recognition for Cuscuta glomerata. (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. Grammica |
Sibling taxa | ||
Name authority | Engelmann: Amer. J. Sci. Arts 43: 342, plate 6, figs. 26–29. (1842) | Choisy: Mém. Soc. Phys. Genève 9: 280, plate 4, fig. 1. (1842) |
Web links |