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mountain dodder

big-fruit dodder

Stems

yellow, slender.

yellow to orange, coarse.

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, paniculiform;

bracts at base of clusters 1, at base of pedicels 0(or 1), ovate to broadly triangular, membranous, margins entire, apex acute to obtuse.

Pedicels

0–2 mm.

0.9–7 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, 2–3.5(–4.4) mm, membranous, not papillate;

calyx brownish, campanulate, to 1/2 corolla tube length, divided 1/2–2/3 its length, not reticulate or shiny, lobes ovate, bases overlapping, margins entire or serrulate, midvein not carinate, apex obtuse to rounded;

corolla creamy white, drying creamy brownish, 2–4 mm, tube campanulate, 1.7–2.3(–2.7) mm, not saccate, lobes spreading to reflexed, ovate to broadly triangular-ovate, 1/4–1/3 corolla tube length, margins entire, apex rounded to obtuse, straight;

infrastaminal scales broadly oblong, 1.2–2 mm, (1/3–)1/2 corolla tube length, bridged at 0.5–1 mm, ± truncate to 2-lobed apically, fimbriate mostly in distal 1/2, fimbriae 0.2–0.6 mm;

stamens exserted, shorter than corolla lobes;

filaments 0.4–0.7 mm;

anthers 0.3–0.6 × 0.2–0.4 mm;

styles slender, 0.3–0.9 mm, 1/4 ovary length, slightly thickened at base.

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.

ovoid to globose-conic or subobpyriform, 3.5–6.5(–7) × 3–5(–6) mm, raised and thickened around relatively small interstylar aperture, apex rarely narrowed into neck to 1 mm, not translucent, surrounding capsule or capped by withered corolla, indehiscent.

Seeds

2–4, obcompressed, subglobose, 0.8–1.1 × 0.8–1 mm, hilum subterminal.

3 or 4, obcompressed to obscurely angled, broadly ellipsoid to obovoid, 1.8–2.5(–2.8) × 1.5–1.6 mm, hilum region subterminal.

Cuscuta suksdorfii

Cuscuta umbrosa

Phenology Flowering Jul–Sep. Flowering Jul–Oct.
Habitat mountain meadows. Hosts: Ampelopsis, Clematis, Convolvulus, Epilobium, Humulus, Impatiens, Lactuca, Linum, Salix, Scutellaria, Solidago, Symphoricarpos, Urtica, and others.
Elevation 1500–2600 m. (4900–8500 ft.) 50–2100 m. (200–6900 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
CA; OR; WA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CO; IA; ID; IL; KS; MN; MT; ND; NE; NM; SD; UT; WI; WY; AB; MB; ON; SK
Discussion

Navajo Indians of the southwestern United States added seeds of Cuscuta umbrosa to soups or stews (E. F. Castetter 1935).

(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
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. pentagona, C. plattensis, C. polygonorum, C. rostrata, C. runyonii, C. salina, C. squamata, C. suaveolens, C. subinclusa, 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. 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. warneri
Synonyms C. salina var. acuminata, C. suksdorfii var. subpedicellata C. curta, C. megalocarpa
Name authority Yuncker: Mem. Torrey Bot. Club 18: 167. (1932) Beyrich ex Hooker: Fl. Bor.-Amer. 2: 78. (1837)
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