PLATE 534. 



CTJSCUTA CASSYTOIDES, Nees. (Fl. Cap. Vol. IV, Section 2, p. 86.) 

 Natural Order CONVOLVULACE^;. 



A leafless parasite, stems and branches terete, glabrous, yellow-green, with 

 numerous dark brown spots, 1 -2-lines diameter, often reaching to several feet in 

 length and being much entangled. Inflorescence cymose " the cymes congested 

 into lax-flowered spikes " flowers dull yellow. Calyx very deeply 5-lobed, lobes 

 broadly rounded, imbricated. Corolla campanulate, 5-lobed, lobes oblong, obtuse, 

 at length reflexed, shorter than the tube, the whole corolla twice as long as the 

 calyx. Stamens 5, alternate with the corolla lobes ; anthers sessile at throat of 

 tube, with a membranous scale at base of each rising from low down in the tube. 

 Ovary 2-celled, 4-ovuled; Styles 2, connate, short, thick; stigma capitate 2-lobed. 

 Capsule globose. 



Habitat : NATAL : Noodsberg, 2000 to 3000 ft. alt., April, Wood 929; parasitic 

 on Trema bracteolata, near Durban, 150 ft. alt, April, Miss Franks. 



The genus Cuscuta includes about 80 species, natives of warm and temperate 

 regions, all the species are parasitic, and some are known in Europe as " dodder " 

 and do much damage in cornfields. In South Africa we have 8 species, 5 of 

 which have been identified in Natal, these are usually parasitic on herbaceous 

 plants and undershrubs, but the species here described is often if not always found 

 upon trees, where it appears as tangled masses increasing by self division. The 

 seeds of most, perhaps all of the species germinate in the ground, but after 

 obtaining a hold on an adjacent plant they sever their connection with the ground 

 and for the remainder of their lives are truly parasitic, obtaining their nourishment 

 from their host by means of haustoria which penetrate the bark as shown by the 

 artist in the figure. 



Fig. 1 , portion of plant on branch of host ; 2, flower ; 3, same, longitudinal 

 section; 4, calyx; 5, portion of corolla opened showing stamens and scales; 6, 

 pistil ; 7, cross section of ovary ; 8, cross section through parasite and host 

 showing haustorium ; 9, capsules. Figs. 1 and 9 natural size, remainder enlarged. 



