Page authors: Don Knoke, David Giblin
Cuscuta denticulata
desert dodder
Specimens
Photos

Distribution: Occurring east of the Cascades crest in Washington; Washington to Baja California, east to Colorado.

Habitat: Parasitic on Artemisia tridentata, occasionally on other hosts in sagebrush desert.

Flowers: July-August

Origin: Native

Growth Duration: Annual

Conservation Status: Threatened in Washington (WANHP)

Pollination: Bees, wasps

Description:
General:

Parasitic, twining, perennial herbs, with very slender, pinkish-yellow to white glabrous stems, often forming large mats.

Leaves:

Leaves reduced to tiny scales.

Flowers:

Flowers usually sessile in small clusters; calyx not fleshy, deeply divided, the 5 lobes oval to orbicular, overlapping, 2 mm. long, the margins irregularly denticulate; corolla bell-shaped, slightly exceeding the calyx, the 5 lobes ovate-lanceolate, overlapping at the base, spreading to ascending, about equaling the tube; stamens 5, inserted just below the sinuses of the tube, slightly exerted, the filaments about equaling the anthers; oval scales covering the base of the filaments nearly entire, united to mid-length; styles 2, 0.5 mm. long; ovary superior, 2-celled.

Fruits:

: Capsule narrowly ovoid, crested around the base of the style.

Accepted Name:
Cuscuta denticulata Engelm.
Publication: Amer. Naturalist 9(6): 348. 1875.

Synonyms & Misapplications:
(none provided)
Additional Resources:

PNW Herbaria: Specimen records of Cuscuta denticulata in the Consortium of Pacific Northwest Herbaria database

WA Flora Checklist: Cuscuta denticulata checklist entry

OregonFlora: Cuscuta denticulata information

E-Flora BC: Cuscuta denticulata atlas page

CalPhotos: Cuscuta denticulata photos

6 photographs:
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