Plant Image
Flowers


Yavapai County Native & Naturalized Plants

Cuscuta indecora - bigseed alfalfa dodder

Synonyms: Cuscuta neuropetala
Other Common Names: collared dodder, largeseed dodder, pretty dodder
Plant Form: Forb or Subshrub

Family: Cuscutaceae


   
 
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Plant
Anthony Mendoza @http://swbiodiversity.org, Usage Rights: Attribution-Non-Commercial (CC BY-NC)
Leaves and flowers
USDA, NRCS. 2022. PLANTS Database
Forb Plant Description

Origin: Native   Life Cycle: Perennial
General Desc: Parasitic vine with twining, matted mass of thread-like yellowish stems; leaves none to scale like. It lives on the juices of the host plant; hosted by Acacia, Prosopis, Condalia, Datura, Solidago, Hymenoclea and Baccharis among others.
Identification notes: Twining parasitic vine; flowers 5-petaled in rounded clusters, shallowly bell-shaped, petals triangular; flower fleshy with nipple projections; scale-like appendages at the base of the flower; capsule without a terminal lid, 4-seeded.
Height: Variable depends on host


Habitat

Habitat Description: Found on herbaceous plants in moist fields, river flood plains, in major washes, on roadsides and near agriculture below 5,000 feet.
Plant Communities: Semidesert Grasslands, Riparian, Disturbed Areas
Elevation: Below 5000 feet


Flower Characteristics

Color: White     Shape: Bell-shaped in round clusters     Tubular: Y     Flowering Period: Jul - Sep
Description: Flowers 1/4 to 1/8 inch long, shallowly bell-shaped, in loose or compact clusters; fleshy, translucent-white; 5 petals, not overlapping; tips curved inward; the flower stalks as long or longer than the flowers; 5 sepals are similar to the petals.


Leaf and Stem Characteristics

Leaf Color: Yellow-orange, green     Leaf Type: Simple     Leaf Shape: Triangular     Leaf Margin: Smooth     Leaf Attachment: Alternate     Leaves Clasp: N
Hairs: No     Spines: N
Leaf Description: Stems coarse, slender, often transparent or yellow-orange, green; leaves none to scale-like, generally narrow to triangular. Seedlings break contact with the ground and twine about host plant using suckers to absorb water and nutrients.


Fruit and Seed Characteristics

Fruit Type: Capsule
Fruit Notes: Round capsule with 4 seeds, 1/8 to 1/4 inch, sometimes with glands.


  Arizona Cooperative Extension
Yavapai County
840 Rodeo Dr #C
Prescott, AZ 86305
(928) 445-6590
Version 8.0  
http://cales.arizona.edu/yavapaiplants/SpeciesDetailForb.php  
Last Updated: Dec 13, 2022
Content Questions/Comments: Email Matt Halldorson  
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