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Common name: Dodder Family.
Number of genera 1. Number of species ca. 150 (within Convolvulaceae).
Angiosperm. Magnoliopsida.
Disseminule a dehisced fruit, or an intact or entire fruit, or a seed.
Fruits
Pistil(s) compound; 1; 1-pistillate; with carpels united. Fruit pericarpium; simple; berry (of authors), or capsule; foraminicidal capsule, or pyxidium capsule (of authors, but not Spjut); capsule not inflated; capsule without operculum; berry indehiscent; berry without central placental mass; without persistent central column; within accessory organ(s); persistent; 1-seeded to more than 1 but less than 10-seeded; 1–4-seeded; 2(–3)-carpellate; with carpels united; with carpels remaining united at maturity; with carpels not radiating at maturity; without sterile carpels; in transection terete; apex not beaked; dehiscent, or indehiscent. Dehiscent unit seed(s). Dehiscent regularly, or irregularly; passively; at apex, or middle, or base; and shedding seeds; without replum. Epicarp brown (all shades); dull; durable; glabrous (without hairs); without armature; without wing(s); without apical respiratory hole. Mesocarp absent. Endocarp absent (assumed). Funiculus short; short without seed bearing hooks (retinacula); not persisting in fruit after seed shed.
Seeds
Aril absent. Seed larger than minute; less than 1 mm long to 1 to less than 5 mm long; 0.8–1.4 mm long; circular, or irregular (somewhat), or mitaform (somewhat); not bowl shaped; not nutlike; without winglike beak; without caudate appendage(s); at maturity with food reserves; with endosperm; without canavanine. Sarcotesta absent. Testa present; without fleshy or leathery layer over hard layer; tight; dull; surface unsmooth, or smooth; surface with depressed features, or discreet raised features, or merged raised features; surface pitted; surface tuberculate; surface reticulate, or roughened, or rugose; without crease or line separating cotyledons from hypocotyl-radicle; with notch along margin where cotyledons from hypocotyl-radicle tip approaching each other, or without notch along margin where cotyledons from hypocotyl-radicle tip approach each other; without glands; without bristles; glabrous; without wings; without collar; without operculum; colored; monochrome; gray, or brown (all shades); not becoming mucilaginous when wetted; surrounding embryo (because embryo peripheral). Hilum larger than punctate; circular. Raphe inconspicuous. Endosperm development nuclear; moderate; hard; opaque; smooth; with starch; with starch composed of solitary grains (assumed); without fatty acid containing cyclopropene; without apical lobes; without chlorophyll; without isodiametric faceted surface; without odor.
Embryo differentiated from food reserve; well developed; 1 per seed; partially filling testa (with food reserve); 2–3 times the length of food reserve; at one end of seed not extending into a depression or cup; peripheral; linear; flatly coiled (circinate), or conically coiled (circinate), or annular; 125% annular to 150% annular (+); with cotyledons gradually connected to hypocotyl-radicle; without coleorhiza; without simmondsin; without stomata; not green; acotyledonous, or with 1 cotyledon (scarcely), or with 2 or more cotyledons. Cotyledons 2; scarcely differentiated; as wide as hypocotyl-radicle; 1 times wider than hypocotyl-radicle; not concealing hypocotyl-radicle; not foliaceous; not punctate dotted. Hypocotyl-radicle well developed; coiled; not thickened.
Distribution
Cosmopolitan (nearly). New World (best developed especially warmer regions), Old World. North America, Middle America, South America, Europe, Africa, Asia Major, Asia Minor, southeastern Asia, Australia, Oceania.
Weed information
1 or more USA Federal noxious weeds, 1 or more USA state noxious weeds.
USA Federal noxious weeds: -- Cuscuta australis R. Br.: USA Federal Noxious Weed●. -- Cuscuta chinensis Lam.USA Federal Noxious Weed●. -- Cuscuta japonica ChoisyUSA Federal Noxious Weed●; USA state noxious weed: TX●. -- Cuscuta lupuliformis Krock: USA Federal Noxious Weed●. -- Cuscuta monogyna Valhl: USA Federal Noxious Weed●.-- Cuscuta myricoides (L.) Druce, nom. ambig.: USA Federal Noxious Weed●; USA state noxious weed: NC●. -- Cuscuta reflexa Roxb.: USA Federal Noxious Weed●; USA state noxious weed: CA●, NC●. -- Cuscuta spp.: USA Federal Noxious Weed●; USA state noxious weed: AL°, AR●°, AZ●°, CA●°, CO°, CT°, DE°, FL●°, GA°, HI°, IA°, ID°, IL°, IN°, KS°, KY°, LA°, MA●°, MD°, ME°, MI●°, MN°, MO°, MS°, MT°, NC°, ND°, NE°, NH°, NJ°, NM°, NV°, NY°, OH°, OK●°, OR●°, PA°, PR●, RI°, SC°, SD●°, TN°, TX°, UT°, VA°, VT°, WI°, WV°, WY●Y°. -- Symbols: ªaquatic weed; ●terrestrial weed; °weed in seed. -- Last updated September 2008.
USA states and territories with listed noxious weeds: Alabama (AL), Arizona (AZ), Arkansas (AR), California (CA), Colorado (CO), Connecticut (CT), Delaware (DE), Florida (FL), Georgia (GA), Hawaii (HI), Idaho (ID), Illinois (IL), Indiana (IN), Iowa (IA), Kansas (KS), Kentucky (KY), Louisiana (LA), Maine (ME), Maryland (MD), Massachusetts (MA), Michigan (MI), Minnesota (MN), Mississippi (MS), Missouri (MO), Montana (MT), Nebraska (NE), Nevada (NV), New Hampshire (NH), New Jersey (NJ), New Mexico (NM), New York (NY), North Carolina (NC), North Dakota (ND), Ohio (OH), Oklahoma (OK), Oregon (OR), Pennsylvania (PA), Puerto Rico (PR), Rhode Island (RI), South Carolina (SC), South Dakota (SD), Tennessee (TN), Texas (TX), Utah (UT), Vermont (VT), Virginia (VA), West Virginia (WV), Wisconsin (WI), Wyoming (WY).
USA state and territory noxious weeds: -- Cuscuta japonica Choisy: USA Federal Noxious Weed●; USA state noxious weed: TX●.-- Cuscuta myricoides (L.) Druce: USA Federal Noxious Weed●; USA state noxious weed: NC●.-- Cuscuta reflexa Roxb.: USA Federal Noxious Weed●; USA state noxious weed: CA●, NC●. -- Cuscuta spp.: USA Federal Noxious Weed●; USA state noxious weed: AL°, AR●°, AZ●°, CA●°, CO°, CT°, DE°, FL●°, GA°, HI°, IA°, ID°, IL°, IN°, KS°, KY°, LA°, MA●°, MD°, ME°, MI●°, MN°, MO°, MS°, MT°, NC°, ND°, NE°, NH°, NJ°, NM°, NV°, NY°, OH°, OK●°, OR●°, PA°, PR●, RI°, SC°, SD●°, TN°, TX°, UT°, VA°, VT°, WI°, WV°, WY●Y°. -- Symbols: ªaquatic weed; ●terrestrial weed; °weed in seed. -- Last updated September 2008.
Listed seeds
ISTA listed seeds.
ISTA listed seeds: -- Cuscuta campestris Yunck.w -- Cuscuta epilinum Weihew -- Cuscuta epithymum (L.) L.w -- Cuscuta indecora Choisyw -- Cuscuta pentagona Engelm. w -- Cuscuta planiflora Ten.w -- Symbols: aagricultural and vegetable seeds (Table 2A Part 1); ttree and shrub species (Table 2A Part 2); fflower, spice, herb, and medicinal seeds (Table 2A Part 3); wweed seeds. -- Last updated September 2008.
Accepted genera
Cuscuta L.
References specific to this family
Cronquist page 898. Yuncker, T.G. 1932. The genus Cuscuta. Mem. Torr. Bot. Club 18:113–331; Gaertner, E.E. 1950. Studies of seed germination, seed identification, and host relationships in dodders, Cuscuta spp. Mem. Cornell Univ. Agric. Exp. Sta. 294:1–56; Knepper, D.A., R.A. Creager, & L.M. Musselman. 1990. Identifying dodder seed as contaminants in seed shipments. Seed Sci. Technol. 18:731–741.
General references
Cronquist, A. 1981. An integrated system of classification of flowering plants, 1,262 p. Columbia University Press, New York, Goldberg, A. 1986 (dicots) and 1989 (monocots). Classification, evolution, and phylogeny of the familes of Dicotyledons. Smithsonian Contr. Bot. 58 for dicots (314 pp.) and 71 for monocots (74 pp.). [Goldberg's illustrations are reproduced from older publications and these should be consulted], Gunn, C.R. and C.A. Ritchie. 1988. Identification of disseminules listed in the Federal Noxious Weed Act. Techn. Bull. U.S.D.A. 1719:1–313, Gunn, C.R., J.H. Wiersema, C.A. Ritchie, and J.H. Kirkbride, Jr. 1992 and amendments. Families and genera of Spermatophytes recognized by the Agricultural Research Service. Techn. Bull. U.S.D.A. 1796:1–500, Mabberley, D.J. 1987. The plant-book, 706 p. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, Spjut, R.W. 1994. A systematic treatment of fruit types. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 70:1–182.
Illustrations
Poor fruit and acceptable seed illustrations. Disseminule illustration(s): fruit, or seed, or embryo. Fruit illustration(s): Cronquist. Seed illustration(s): Karen, Gunn & Ritchie. Embryo illustration(s): Karen, Gunn & Ritchie. Karen's plate number and taxon (taxa): 281: Cuscuta indecora Choisy (A-B).
• Fruit. 1 of 8. Cuscuta gronovii Willd. ex Schult.: fruit. • Seed. 2 of 8. Cuscuta gronovii Willd. ex Schult.: seed. • Seed. 3 of 8. Cuscuta japonica Choisy: seeds. • Seed. 4 of 8. Cuscuta pentagonia Engelm.: seeds. • Seed. 5 of 8. Cuscuta planiflora Ten.: seeds. • Embryo. 6 of 8. Cuscuta australis R. Br.: embryo. • Embryo. 7 of 8. Cuscuta indecora Choisy: embryo. • Embryo. 8 of 8. Cuscuta monogyna Vahl: embryo.
We advise against extracting comparative information from the descriptions. This is much more easily achieved using the DELTA data files or the interactive key, which allows access to the character list, illustrations, full and partial descriptions, diagnostic descriptions, differences and similarities between taxa, lists of taxa exhibiting or lacking specified attributes, and distributions of character states within any set of taxa. See also Guidelines for using data taken from Web publications.
Cite this publication as: ‘J.H. Kirkbride, Jr., C.R. Gunn, and M.J. Dallwitz. 2000 onwards. Family guide for fruits and seeds: descriptions, illustrations, identification, and information retrieval. Version: 12th April 2021. delta-intkey.com’.
