Cuscuta

Belongs within: Convolvulaceae.

Cuscuta, the dodders, is a cosmopolitan genus of parasitic vines. Dodders lack both roots and chlorophyll, and grow as slender, twining stems attached to hosts by haustoria. Some species have become widely dispersed outside their native ranges as crop pests.

Characters (Stefanović et al. 2003): Plants parasitic, with little or no chlorophyll, attached to hosts by haustoria. Roots absent. Stems twining, slender, pale to bright orange, with no internal phloem. Leaves reduced, scale-like. Flowers actinomorphic, bisexual, with infrastaminal fimbriate scales. Sepals equal, non-accrescent. Styles entire or partially to completely divided. Stigmas elongate, capitate, ovoid. Fruit dehiscent, capsular, 2-locular, 1–4-seeded. Embryo spirally coiled, almost acotyledonous. Pollen 3-colpate or pantocolpate, non-echinate.

Cuscuta Linnaeus 1753 [Cuscutaceae, Cuscuteae, Cuscutoideae]A61
    |--C. americana L. 1753L95
    |--C. approximataST98 [incl. C. epithymumH93, C. novae-zelandiae Kirk 1888 (n. n.)C06, A61]
    |    |--C. a. ssp. approximataST98
    |    |--C. a. ssp. episonchumST98
    |    `--C. ‘epithymum’ var. trifoliiC06
    |--C. australisST98
    |--C. californicaH93
    |    |--C. c. var. californicaH93
    |    |--C. c. var. apiculataH93
    |    |--C. c. var. breviflora (see below for synonymy)H93
    |    `--C. c. var. papillosaH93
    |--C. campestris Yuncker 1932 [incl. C. pentagona var. calycosa Engelmann 1843]L95
    |--C. cephalanthiH93
    |--C. chinensisLK14
    |    |--C. c. var. chinensisS72
    |    `--C. c. var. ciliarisS72
    |--C. corymbosaC55
    |--C. denticulata [incl. C. veatchii]H93
    |--C. epilinum Weihe 1824C06
    |--C. europaeaSAO03
    |    |--C. e. var. europaeaO88
    |    `--C. e. var. indicaO88
    |--C. exaltataMS10
    |--C. globulosa Benth. 1845L95
    |--C. howellianaH93
    |--C. hyalinaS72
    |--C. indecora Choisy 1842L95
    |    |--C. i. var. indecora [incl. C. jepsonii]H93
    |    `--C. i. var. neuropetalaH93
    |--C. japonicaSAO03
    |--C. lupuliformisCS77
    |--C. obtusiflora Kunth 1819L95
    |    |--C. o. var. obtusifloraL95
    |    `--C. o. var. glandulosa Engelm. 1859 [=C. glandulosa (Engelm.) Small 1903]L95
    |--C. palaestinaST98
    |--C. pentagonaH93
    |--C. planifloraAGF98
    |--C. racemosaC06
    |    |--C. r. var. racemosaC06
    |    `--C. r. var. chiliana [incl. C. hassiaca Pfeiff. 1843]C06
    |--C. reflexaD07
    |--C. salinaH93
    |    |--C. s. var. salinaH93
    |    |--C. s. var. majorH93
    |    `--C. s. var. papillataH93
    |--C. suaveolens Sér. 1840A61
    |    |--C. s. var. suaveolensA61
    |    `--C. s. var. densiflora (Hooker) Yuncker 1932 [=C. densiflora Hooker 1854]A61
    |--C. subinclusaH93
    |--C. tasmanicaBR65
    |--C. umbellata HBK. 1818L95
    `--C. victorianaBR65

Cuscuta californica var. breviflora [incl. C. brachycalyx var. apodanthera, C. brachycalyx, C. occidentalis, C. suksdorfii var. subpedicellata, C. suksdorfii]^H93

*Type species of generic name indicated

References

[AGF98] Abd El-Ghani, M. M., & A. G. Fahmy. 1998. Composition of and changes in the spontaneous flora of Feiran Oasis, S Sinai, Egypt, in the last 60 years. Willdenowia 28: 123–134.

[A61] Allan, H. H. 1961. Flora of New Zealand vol. 1. Indigenous Tracheophyta: Psilopsida, Lycopsida, Filicopsida, Gymnospermae, Dicotyledones. R. E. Owen, Government Printer: Wellington (New Zealand).

[BR65] Black, J. M., & E. L. Robertson. 1965. Flora of South Australia. Part IV. Oleaceae–Compositae. W. L. Hawes, Government Printer: Adelaide.

[C55] Candolle, A. de. 1855. Géographie Botanique Raisonée: Ou exposition des faits principaux et des lois concernant la distribution géographique des plantes de l’époque actuelle vol. 2. Librairie de Victor Masson: Paris.

[C06] Cheeseman, T. F. 1906. Manual of the New Zealand Flora. John Mackay, Government Printer: Wellington.

[CS77] Cramp, S., & K. E. L. Simmons (eds) 1977. Handbook of the Birds of Europe, the Middle East and North Africa: The Birds of the Western Palaearctic vol. 1. Ostrich to Ducks. Oxford University Press: Oxford.

[D07] Dash, S. S. 2007. Useful plants of Kabi Sacred Grove, Sikkim. Bulletin of the Botanical Survey of India 49: 79–88.

[H93] Hickman, J. C. (ed.) 1993. The Jepson Manual: Higher Plants of California. University of California Press: Berkeley (California).

[L95] Liogier, H. A. 1995. Descriptive Flora of Puerto Rico and Adjacent Islands: Spermatophyta-Dicotyledoneae vol. 4. Melastomataceae to Lentibulariaceae. Editorial de la Universidad de Puerto Rico.

[LK14] Lyons, M. N., G. J. Keighery, L. A. Gibson & T. Handasyde. 2014. Flora and vegetation communities of selected islands off the Kimberley coast of Western Australia. Records of the Western Australian Museum Supplement 81: 205–244.

[MS10] Moore, M. J., P. S. Soltis, C. D. Bell, J. G. Burleigh & D. E. Soltis. 2010. Phylogenetic analysis of 83 plastid genes further resolves the early diversification of eudicots. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA 107 (10): 4623–4628.

[O88] Ohba, H. 1988. The alpine flora of the Nepal Himalayas: an introductory note. In: Ohba, H., & S. B. Malla (eds) The Himalayan Plants vol. 1. The University Museum, University of Tokyo, Bulletin 31: 19–46.

[ST98] Schimming, T., B. Tofern, P. Mann, A. Richter, K. Jenett-Siems, B. Dräger, N. Asano, M. P. Gupta, M. D. Correa & E. Eich. 1998. Distribution and taxonomic significance of calystegines in the Convolvulaceae. Phytochemistry 49: 1989–1995.

[S72] Singh, N. P. 1972. Cuscuta campestris Yuncker: a new record for western India. Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society 69 (2): 456.

[SAO03] Stefanović, S., D. F. Austin & R. G. Olmstead. 2003. Classification of Covolvulaceae: a phylogenetic approach. Systematic Botany 28 (4): 791–806.