Big-fruit dodder

Cuscuta curta (Engelmann) Rydberg; C. megalocarpa Rydberg

Stems yellow to orange, coarse. Inflorescences dense, panicu­liform; bracts at base of clus­ters 1, at base of pedicels 0(or 1), ovate to broadly tri­angular, membranous, margins entire, apex acute to obtuse. Pedicels 0.9–7 mm. Flowers 5-merous, 2–3.5(–4.4) mm, mem­branous, not papillate; calyx brownish, campanulate, to 1/2 corolla tube length, divided 1/2–2/3 its length, not reticulate or shiny, lobes ovate, bases overlapping, margins entire or serrulate, midvein not carinate, apex obtuse to rounded; corolla creamy white, drying creamy brownish, 2–4 mm, tube campanulate, 1.7–2.3(–2.7) mm, not saccate, lobes spreading to reflexed, ovate to broadly triangular-ovate, 1/4–1/3 corolla tube length, margins entire, apex rounded to obtuse, straight; infrastaminal scales broadly oblong, 1.2–2 mm, (1/3–)1/2 corolla tube length, bridged at 0.5–1 mm, ± truncate to 2-lobed apically, fimbriate mostly in distal 1/2, fimbriae 0.2–0.6 mm; stamens exserted, shorter than corolla lobes; filaments 0.4–0.7 mm; anthers 0.3–0.6 × 0.2–0.4 mm; styles slender, 0.3–0.9 mm, 1/4 ovary length, slightly thickened at base. Capsules ovoid to globose-conic or subobpyriform, 3.5–6.5(–7) × 3–5(–6) mm, raised and thickened around relatively small interstylar aperture, apex rarely narrowed into neck to 1 mm, not translucent, surrounding capsule or capped by withered corolla, indehiscent. Seeds 3 or 4, obcompressed to obscurely angled, broadly ellipsoid to obovoid, 1.8–2.5(–2.8) × 1.5–1.6 mm, hilum region subterminal.

Flowering Jul–Oct. Hosts: Ampelopsis, Clematis, Convolvulus, Epilobium, Humulus, Impatiens, Lactuca, Linum, Salix, Scutellaria, Solidago, Symphoricarpos, Urtica, and others; 50–2100 m; Alta., Man., Ont., Sask.; Colo., Idaho, Ill., Iowa, Kans., Minn., Mont., Nebr., N.Mex., N.Dak., S.Dak., Utah, Wis., Wyo.

Navajo Indians of the southwestern United States added seeds of Cuscuta umbrosa to soups or stews (E. F. Castetter 1935).