CUSCUTA INDECORA Choisey

Pretty Dodder

 

FAMILY:  Cuscutaceae

 

HABIT: Slender, climbing parasitic annual; flowering July to August; fruiting July to September.

 

SIMILAR SPECIES: The dodders are a very difficult group and close examination is necessary for identification.  Pretty dodder may be confused with C. coryli but it differs by its flowers being mostly 5-merous compared to 4-merous of C. coryli.

 

TOTAL RANGE: Illinois to N. D., w. to California, S. to Fla. and S. America.

 

STATE RANGE: Post-1980 records from Adams County.

 

STATE STATUS: 2002-Added; 2004-Endangered.  

 

HABITAT: Floodplains of creeks and streams.

 

HAZARDS: Invasive species and loss of habitat.

 

RECOVERY POTENTIAL: Poor; eastern limit of its range.

 

INVENTORY GUIDELINES: Collect flowering and fruiting material.  Keep some material free in a packet on a herbarium sheet for easier examination of the dried specimen.

 

COMMENTS: Earlier reports of this species were mis-identified Cuscuta suaveolens Ser. which is parasitic on clovers (Cooperrider 1995).  Cuscuta indecora is parasitic on a variety hosts.  Plants in Adams County were found on asters and goldenrods.

 

SELECTED REFERENCES:

 

Cooperrider, T. S.  1995.  The Dicotyledoneae of Ohio, Part 2.  Linaceae through Campanulaceae.  Ohio State University Press, Columbus, Ohio.  656 p.

 

Voss, E. G.  1996.  Michigan Flora Vol. III Dicots Concluded.  Cranebook Inst. of Science Bull. 61 & U. of Michigan Herbarium, Ann Arbor.  622 p.

 

Yuncker, T. G.  1965.  Cuscuta.  N. Am. Fl.  II(4).  51 p.

 

3/04 Richard Gardner