Compact Dodder

Description

Cuscuta compacta, the compact dodder, is a parasitic plant that specializes on woody plants. This species is distributed across the Eastern and Midwestern USA, Eastern Canada, and Mexico.The plant Cuscuta compacta is known as stem parasite with a yellowish stem that wraps around a host plant. The flowers on this plant are very small. The flowers are small and occur from clusters of four to five. The flowers have a tube or cylinder form with a size of 5mm long and 2mm wide. The sepals of the flower have obtuse tips. The corolla tips on C. compacta gradually acuminate to a sharp point. The length of the stamens are 0.3mm long and is exerted. The style of the pistil is 0.5 mm long. Scales on C. compacta are shorter than the corolla tube. Capsules are tubular in shape with a length of 3mm long and width of 2mm wide. The seeds of C. compacta are 2mm in length and are brown when fresh. The species Cuscuta compacta Juss. ex Choisy has four accepted synonyms or subspecific varieties. Synonyms are alternative names for a species. Some names attributed to Cuscuta compacta are Cuscuta compacta var. adpressa (Engelm.) Engelm, Cuscuta fruticum Bertol, Cuscuta glomerata var. adpressa (Engelm.) Choisy, and Lepidanche adpressa Engelm. The Cuscutaceae family is closely related to the Oncothecaceae family on an Angiosperm Phylogeny. C. compacta is in the Cleistogrammica section subsection Lepidanche. Two closest species related to C. compacta are, Cuscuta glomerata and Cuscuta denticulata. The species Cuscuta compacta can be particularly found in the lower 48 states including Canada. The genus Cuscuta compacta has been identified in Africa, Europe, South America, China, and Australia. Cuscuta compacta can be seen wrapped around their host plants during the months of July through November. Its habitat consists of bottomland forests near stream banks. Other locations are marshes, swamps, and any wet habitats. Cuscuta compacta can parasitize both herbaceous and but especially specialize on woody hosts. Cuscuta is highly diverse being found all over the world yet majority of this genus is in the Americas.