310 Cuscutaceae 



Family 78. CUSCUTACEAE. DODDER FAMILY. 



White or yellow slender twining parasites, the leaves 

 reduced to minute alternate scales. Calyx 5-lobed, 

 rarely 4-lobed or 4-5-parted, the lobes imbricated in the 

 bud. Corolla usually campanulate, 5-lobed, rarely 

 4-lobed, the tube bearing as many fimbriate or crenulate 

 scales as there are lobes and alternate with them, or these 

 sometimes obsolete. Stamens as many as corolla-lobes 

 and alternate with them, inserted in the throat or sinuses 

 above the scales ; anthers short, 2-celled, longitudinally 

 dehiscent. Ovary 2-celled ; ovules 2 in each cavity ; 

 styles 2, separate or rarely united below ; stigmas capi- 

 tate or linear. Capsule globose or ovoid, circumscissile, 

 irregularly bursting or indehiscent, 1-4-seeded. Seeds 

 globose or angular ; embryo linear, curved or spiral ; 

 cotyledons none. 



1. CUSCUTA L. DODDER. 



Characters of the family. Stems filiform, parasitic on 

 herbs and shrubs by minute suckers. 



* Ovary and capsule depressed-globose. 



1. C. arvensis Beyrich. Stems filiform, pale yellow; flowers 

 nearly sessile in small clusters; calyx-lobes broad, obtuse; 

 corolla campanulate, its lobes as long as the tube, acute or acu- 

 minate, reflexed ; scales large, ovate, equaling or exceeding the 

 tube, densely fringed all around ; capsule depressed-globose. 



On various herbs about Los Angeles, Davidson. 



2. C. Californica Choisy. Stems capillary, low ; flowers 2-4 

 mm. long, pedicelled in loose cymes; calyx-lobes acute; corolla- 

 lobes lanceolate-subulate, as long as or longer than the campan- 

 ulate tube ; filaments nearly equaling the linear oblong anthers ; 

 appendages none or rudimentary ; style slender. 



Occasional along the coast and In the interior, growing on various low 

 shrubs. 



