Cuscuta denticulata

Cuscuta denticulata, commonly known as desert dodder[1] or small-toothed dodder, is a thin, yellow to orange, parasitic annual vine in the morning glory family (Convulvulaceae), native to the deserts of the south-western United States and northern Mexico.[2]

Cuscuta denticulata
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Solanales
Family: Convolvulaceae
Genus: Cuscuta
Species:
C. denticulata
Binomial name
Cuscuta denticulata

Description

Growth pattern

It is an annual plant that grows as a very thin orange-ish parasitic vine, with clumping twinings around the host stems.[2] It parasitizes the host by sending small, short-lived rootlets (haustoria) into its tissues, from which it absorbs moisture and nutrients.[2]

Leaves and stems

Yellow to orange stems are without hairs, with minute scale-like leaves.[2]

Inflorescence and fruit

It blooms from May to October with tiny spikes of clusters of miniature white, 5-parted bell shaped flowers.[2] Corolla lobes are bend back, with overlapping calyx lobes.[2] Both calyx and corolla have fine teeth on their margins, hence the species name and common name.[2] Fruits are conical capsules.[2]

Habitat and range

It grows up to 4,000 feet (1,200 m) in the Mojave Desert and Sonoran Desert into Baja California.[2] It parasitizes plants of the creosote bush scrub and Joshua tree woodland communities, such as creosote bush (Larrea tridentata) and cheesebush (Ambrosia salsola).[2]

References
  1. "Cuscuta denticulata". Natural Resources Conservation Service PLANTS Database. USDA. Retrieved 24 June 2015.
  2. Mojave Desert Wildflowers, Pam MacKay, 2012, 2nd ed, p. 146
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