Cuscuta salina |
Cuscuta epilinum |
|
---|---|---|
goldenthread, inland salt-marsh dodder, salt dodder, saltmarsh dodder |
cuscute du lin, flax dodder |
|
Stems | orange-yellow, slender. |
yellow-orange, slender to medium. |
Inflorescences | loose to dense, corymbiform; bracts at base of clusters 1, at base of pedicels 0 or 1, ovate-lanceolate to lanceolate, membranous, margins entire, apex acute. |
bracts ovate, membranous, margins entire, apex obtuse. |
Pedicels | (0.5–)1–5 mm. |
absent. |
Flowers | 5-merous, 2.5–4.5 mm, membranous, not papillate or corolla lobes papillate; calyx yellow, cylindric to narrowly campanulate, equaling corolla tube length, divided 1/2 its length, not reticulate, ± glossy, lobes lance-ovate to lanceolate, bases not overlapping, margins entire, midvein not carinate, apex acute to acuminate; corolla white, drying creamy white, 2.2–4 mm, tube cylindric-campanulate to obconic, 1.2–2 mm, not saccate, lobes spreading to reflexed, lance-oblong to lance-ovate, equaling corolla tube length, margins entire or irregular, apex acute to acuminate or cuspidate, sometimes appearing tridentate, straight; infrastaminal scales oblong to obovate, 1–1.7 mm, 4/5 corolla tube length, bridged at 0.2–0.4 mm, rounded, uniformly densely fimbriate, fimbriae 0.1–0.3 mm; stamens exserted at full anthesis, shorter than corolla lobes; filaments 0.3–0.7 mm; anthers 0.3–0.7 × 0.2–0.5 mm; styles uniformly filiform, 0.4–0.9 mm, shorter than 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 | ellipsoid-ovoid, 1.6–2.5 × 1.7–2.4 mm, thickened and raised around relatively small interstylar aperture, not translucent, surrounded or capped 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 | 1, ± obcompressed, broadly ellipsoid to subglobose, 1.3–1.5 × 1.2–1.4 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 | = 30. |
= 42. |
Cuscuta salina |
Cuscuta epilinum |
|
Phenology | Flowering Mar–Nov. | Flowering Jun–Jul. |
Habitat | Hosts: Atriplex, Centromadia, Cressa, Frankenia, Jaumea, Plantago, Salicornia, Salsola, Suaeda, Trichostema, Wislizenia. | Hosts: primarily Linum usitatissimum but once established on flax, it may also attach to secondary hosts such as Camelina sativa and Guizotia abyssinica. |
Elevation | 0–1000 m. (0–3300 ft.) | 0–200 m. (0–700 ft.) |
Distribution |
AZ; CA; NV; UT; Mexico (Baja California, Baja California Sur, Sonora)
|
DE; MA; MD; MI; NJ; NY; OH; PA; VT; WA; WY; QC; Europe; Asia [Introduced in North America] |
Discussion | 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 | ||
Name authority | Engelmann in W. H. Brewer et al.: Bot. California 1: 536. (1876) | Weihe ex Boenninghausen: Prodr. Fl. Monast. Westphal., 75. (1824) |
Web links |