Page authors: Don Knoke, David Giblin
Cuscuta occidentalis
western dodder
Specimens
Photos

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

Habitat: Seasonally wet or alkaline meadows, vernal pools, and openings.

Flowers: June-August

Origin: Native

Growth Duration: Annual

Conservation Status: Not of concern

Pollination: Bees, wasps

Description:
General:

Parasitic, twining, annual or 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 about 2 mm. long, the lower half fleshy, the 5 lobes triangular, nearly 1 mm. long, acuminate, the tips spreading slightly; corolla slightly longer than the calyx, broadly bell-shaped, conspicuously pouched between the sepals, the 5 lobes lanceolate-acuminate, spreading, slightly longer than the tube; stamens 5, inserted just below the sinuses of the tube, slightly exerted; filament scales lacking; styles 2, 1-1.5 mm. long; ovary superior, 2-celled.

Fruits:

Capsule globose, not circumscissile.

Accepted Name:
Cuscuta occidentalis Millsp.
Publication: Publ. Field Columbian Mus., Bot. Ser. 5: 204. 1923.

Synonyms & Misapplications:
Cuscuta californica Hook. & Arn. var. breviflora Engelm. [KZ99]
Additional Resources:

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

WA Flora Checklist: Cuscuta occidentalis checklist entry

OregonFlora: Cuscuta occidentalis information

E-Flora BC: Cuscuta occidentalis atlas page

CalPhotos: Cuscuta occidentalis photos

6 photographs:
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