CUSP DODDER
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| File Size: 324 KB |
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Cuscuta cuspidata Engelm.
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| Grant County, Kansas (Marion McGlohon photo) |
| Annual |
| Height: Trailing or climbing on host plant |
| Family: Convolvulaceae - Morning Glory Family |
| Flowering Period: August, September |
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| Stems: | | White to pale yellow, twining | | Leaves: | | Alternate, reduced to scales; appears leafless. | | Inflorescences: | | Cymose clusters, loose, appearing along stem, rarely obscuring stems. | | Flowers: | | Pedicels absent or nearly so. Sepals 5, closely subtended by 1-2 imbricate bracts resembling sepals in size and texture, 1/10 to 1/8 inch, smooth or slightly granular; sepals distinct, calyx shorter than corolla tube, sepals lanceolate to ovate or nearly round, apex acute, appressed; corolla white, bell-shaped, lobes spreading, apex acute, straight. | | Fruits: | | Capsules, spherical, capped by the persistent corolla, opening irregularly; seeds 4. | | Habitat: | | Roadsides, floodplains, prairies, frequently in sandy habitats. | | Distribution: | | Throughout Kansas | | Origin: | | Native | | Comments: | | Plants glabrous; parasitic, without chlorophyll. The most frequent hosts of cusp dodder are members of Asteraceae. Dodders are difficult to identify, usually requiring flowers and mature fruits for accurate identification. For additional information see description of Cuscuta pentagona. Twelve dodder species are known in Kansas. |
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| Cusp dodder |  | | 323 KB | | Grant County, Kansas (Marion McGlohon photo) |
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