328 CONVOLVULACEAE (CONVOLVULUS FAMILY) 



FIELD DODDER 



Cuscuta arvensis, Beyrich 



Native. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 



Time of bloom : July to September. 



Seed-time: August to October. 



Range : New York to the Northwest Territory, southward to Florida 



and Texas; also in California. 

 Habitat : Open situations ; appears to dislike shade. 



This is the most injurious species east of the Mississippi Valley, 

 for it is not at all particular on what it feeds. One single plant 

 has been recorded as spreading over and drawing nourishment 

 from eight different species at once. Almost any herbaceous plant 

 will do, but it likes the clovers best ; and it likes to climb to the top 

 of its host plant and spread a tangled mass of threads there, like 

 a carpet ; therefore it is more conspicuous than the lower-growing 

 Clover Dodder and can sooner be detected in a field. 



The strangling stems are pale yellow, very slender. Flowers in 

 dense roundish clusters ; calyx-lobes broad, obtuse ; corolla-lobes 

 pointed, the points inflexed and the scales within the tube of the 

 corolla much fringed ; stamens not exserted ; capsules globular. 

 Seeds nearly double the size of those of Clover Dodder, and in 

 consequence very much harder to separate from clover seed. For 

 this reason it is often called "Large-seeded Dodder," but this 

 name is applied also to the PRETTY DODDER (Cuscuta indecora, 

 Choisy), which is more common to the western United States. 



Means of control the same as for Clover Dodder. 



COMMON DODDER 



Ciiscuta Gronovii, Willd. 



Other English names: Wild Dodder, Onion Dodder. 



Native. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 



Time of bloom: July to September. 



Seed-time: August to October. 



Range : Nova Scotia to Manitoba, southward to the Gulf of Mexico. 



Habitat : Moist shady places ; low grounds, meadows, waste places. 



This species is probably the most widely known of its tribe. 

 Like the Field Dodder, it seems indifferent as to its hosts and, 



