Cuscuta legitima

Costea & Stefanović

Taxon 59: 1795, fig. 5A–D. 2010.

Common names: Large-flowered flat-globe dodder
Treatment appears in FNA Volume 14.
Revision as of 21:37, 6 October 2024 by imported>Volume Importer
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Stems yellow-orange, slender. Inflorescences dense to loose, umbelliform; bracts at base of clusters 1, at base of pedicels 0 or 1, broadly triangular-ovate, membranous, finely reticulate, slightly shiny, margins entire, apex acuminate. Pedicels 2–10 mm. Flowers 5-merous, 4–5.5(–6) mm, membranous, not papillate; calyx straw yellow, campanulate, 2.5–3.2 mm, longer than corolla tube length, divided 2/3 its length, finely reticulate, slightly shiny, lobes ovate-lanceolate, bases not over­lapping, margins entire, midvein not carinate, without multi­cellular protuberances, apex acuminate; corolla white, drying creamy white, 3.8–5.2(–5.6) mm, tube campanulate, 1.6–2.1 mm, not saccate, lobes reflexed, linear-lanceolate, longer than corolla tube length, margins entire, apex acuminate, straight; infrastaminal scales spatulate to obovate, 1.8–2.2 mm, equaling or slightly longer than corolla tube length, bridged at 0.2–0.4 mm, rounded, uniformly densely fimbriate, fimbriae 0.2–0.5 mm; stamens exserted, shorter than corolla lobes; filaments 0.6–1 mm; anthers 0.5–0.7 × 0.2–0.3 mm; styles filiform, 0.9–2.5 mm, longer than ovary. Capsules depressed-globose, 2–3 × 1–2 mm, irregularly thickened and slightly raised around inconspicuous interstylar aperture, translucent, surrounded or capped by withered corolla, dehiscence circumscissile. Seeds 2–4, broadly ellipsoid to subglobose, 0.9–1.2 × 0.8–0.9 mm, hilum subterminal.


Phenology: Flowering Aug–Nov.
Habitat: Hosts: Allionia, Amaranthus, Boerhavia, Chamaesaracha, Evolvulus, Kallstroemia, Salsola, Solanum, Tidestromia, Trianthema, Tribulus.
Elevation: 40–1200 m.

Distribution

Ariz., N.Mex., Tex., Mexico (Baja California, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Sonora, Tamaulipas).

Discussion

Cuscuta legitima is a hybrid species closely allied with C. umbellata, from which it differs in larger flowers and acuminate calyx lobes.

Selected References

None.

Lower Taxa

None.
... more about "Cuscuta legitima"
Mihai Costea +  and Guy L. Nesom +
Costea & Stefanović +
Grammica +
Large-flowered flat-globe dodder +
Ariz. +, N.Mex. +, Tex. +, Mexico (Baja California +, Chihuahua +, Coahuila +, Sonora +  and Tamaulipas). +
40–1200 m. +
Hosts: Allionia, Amaranthus, Boerhavia, Chamaesaracha, Evolvulus, Kallstroemia, Salsola, Solanum, Tidestromia, Trianthema, Tribulus. +
Flowering Aug–Nov. +
Cuscuta legitima +
Cuscuta subg. Grammica +
species +