Cuscuta suksdorfii |
Cuscuta occidentalis |
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mountain dodder |
California dodder, western dodder |
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Stems | yellow, slender. |
yellowish to orange, medium. |
Inflorescences | loose, umbelliform; bracts at base of clusters 1, at base of pedicels and/or flowers 0 or 1, ovate-lanceolate, membranous, margins entire, apex acute. |
dense, glomerulate; bracts at base of clusters 1, at base of pedicels and/or flowers 0 or 1, lanceolate to ovate, membranous, margins entire, apex acute to acuminate. |
Pedicels | 0–2 mm. |
0–0.5(–1.5) mm. |
Flowers | 4- or 5-merous, 2.8–3.3 mm, membranous, not papillate; calyx slightly zygomorphic, creamy yellow, broadly campanulate, 1-1/3–1-1/2 corolla tube length, divided 1/2–3/5 its length, not reticulate or shiny, lobes ovate, bases not overlapping, margins entire, midvein not carinate, apex long-attenuate; corolla white, drying creamy yellow, 2.6–3 mm, tube campanulate, 1.2–1.5 mm, not saccate, lobes suberect, triangular-ovate, longer than corolla tube length, margins entire, apex lance-attenuate, straight; infrastaminal scales relatively poorly developed, oblong, 0.6–1 mm, 1/2–3/4 corolla tube length, bridged at 0.2–0.3 mm, usually reduced to denticulate wings, rarely 2-fid with 1–3 fimbriae on each side of filament attachments, 0.1–0.2 mm; stamens included or barely visible through corolla sinuses, shorter than corolla lobes; filaments 0.2–0.5 mm; anthers 0.2–0.4 × 0.2–0.3 mm; styles terete to slightly subulate, 0.3–0.7 mm, 1/4 ovary length. |
5-merous, 2.7–3.4 mm, membranous, usually not papillate; calyx usually yellow, campanulate, somewhat shorter than to equaling corolla tube length, divided 2/5–1/2 its length, not reticulate, shiny, lobes narrowly ovate to lanceolate, bases not overlapping, margins entire, midvein not carinate, apex acuminate; corolla white, drying creamy white or yellow, 2.5–3.2 mm, tube cylindric-campanulate, 1.4–2.1 mm, saccate between lines of stamen attachments, lobes usually spreading, sometimes reflexed, lanceolate, shorter than corolla tube length, margins entire, apex acuminate, straight; infrastaminal scales absent; stamens ± exserted, shorter than corolla lobes; filaments 0.2–0.5 mm; anthers 0.2–0.5 × 0.2–0.4 mm; styles filiform, 0.5–1(–1.5) mm, shorter than ovary. |
Capsules | ellipsoid-ovoid, ovoid-conic, or globose to depressed-globose, 2–3.2 × 2–3.6 mm, not thickened or raised around relatively small interstylar aperture, translucent, proximal 1/2 surrounded by withered corolla, indehiscent. |
globose to depressed-globose, 1.8–2.2 × 2–2.6 mm, slightly thickened, not raised, around relatively small interstylar aperture, translucent, surrounded by, not completely enclosed by, withered corolla (top of capsule visible), indehiscent. |
Seeds | 2–4, obcompressed, subglobose, 0.8–1.1 × 0.8–1 mm, hilum subterminal. |
2–4, obcompressed, subglobose to broadly ellipsoid, 0.8–1.3 × 0.8–1.1 mm, hilum region lateral. |
Cuscuta suksdorfii |
Cuscuta occidentalis |
|
Phenology | Flowering Jul–Sep. | Flowering Mar–Sep. |
Habitat | mountain meadows. | Hosts: Artemisia, Cistanthe, Corethrogyne, Diplacus, Epilobium, Ericameria, Eriodictyon, Eriogonum, Hemizonia, Iva, Lotus, Lupinus, Monardella, Oenothera, Polygonum, Salvia, Sisymbrium, Trifolium, and others. |
Elevation | 1500–2600 m. (4900–8500 ft.) | 200–2500 m. (700–8200 ft.) |
Distribution |
CA; OR; WA
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CA; CO; ID; NV; OR; UT; WA; WY
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Discussion | Cuscuta occidentalis has been treated as C. californica var. breviflora, in which T. Beliz (1993) also included C. brachycalyx and C. suksdorfii. Cuscuta occidentalis differs from C. californica by its sessile or subsessile flowers, saccate corolla tube, relatively short anthers, relatively short styles, and translucent capsules that are completely enveloped by withered corollas (M. Costea and S. Stefanović 2009). Both C. californica and C. occidentalis are distinguished from C. suksdorfii by five-merous flowers, acute or acuminate calyx and corolla lobe apices, absence of infrastaminal scales, and capsules enclosed by withered corollas (M. Costea et al. 2006b). (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Source | FNA vol. 14. | FNA vol. 14. |
Parent taxa | Convolvulaceae > Cuscuta > subg. Grammica | Convolvulaceae > Cuscuta > subg. Grammica |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | C. salina var. acuminata, C. suksdorfii var. subpedicellata | C. californica var. breviflora |
Name authority | Yuncker: Mem. Torrey Bot. Club 18: 167. (1932) | Millspaugh: Publ. Field Mus. Nat. Hist., Bot. Ser. 5: 204. (1923) |
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