Cuscuta draconella

Stems pale orange, slender. Inflorescences dense, glomer­u­late or fasciculate; bracts at base of clusters 1, at base of pedicels 1 or 2, ovate-triangular to linear, membranous, margins entire, midvein with 1–3(–5) horn­like, multicellular protub­er­ances, apex cuspidate to long-attenuate, ± recurved. Pedicels 0.1–6 mm, sometimes papillate. Flowers 5-merous, 2.5–3.6(–4) mm, fleshy, papillate or not; calyx golden yellow to brown, cam­panulate, ± angled, equaling corolla tube length, divided 1/2–2/3 its length, reticulate and shiny or ± fleshy, lobes triangular-ovate or broadly ovate to subround, mem­branous, bases overlapping, margins irregularly ser­rulate, denticulate, or entire, midvein with 1 or 2(–5) hornlike, multicellular protuberances 0.1–0.3 mm, apex subacute, rounded, or obtuse; corolla white, drying creamy yellow, 2–3.5 mm, tube campanulate, 1.2–1.6 mm, not saccate, lobes spreading to reflexed, triangular-ovate, equaling corolla tube length, margins entire or irregularly denticulate, apex ± cucullate, acute, cuspidate (sometimes 2 or 3-cuspidate), mucronate, or truncate, inflexed; infrastaminal scales spatulate to obovate, 0.7–1 mm, 3/4 corolla tube length, bridged at 0.2–0.4 mm, densely fimbriate, fimbriae 0.2–0.3 mm; stamens exserted, shorter than corolla lobes; filaments 0.4–0.8 mm; anthers 0.5–0.8 × 0.4–0.5 mm; styles stout, filiform, 0.5–1.2 mm, shorter than to equaling ovary. Capsules not seen, lack of dehiscence line in the ovary indicates they are indehiscent. Seeds not seen.

Phenology: Flowering Aug–Sep.
Habitat: Hosts: Atriplex, Gutierrezia, Thelesperma.
Elevation: 1600 m.

Distribution

• Generated Map
• Legacy Map

N.Mex., Tex.

Discussion

Some plants of Cuscuta draconella from Texas were formerly treated as C. decipiens Yuncker, which is known only from Zacatecas, Mexico.

Selected References

None.

Lower Taxa

None.