Cusp dodder

Stems pale yellow, medium. Inflorescences loose, paniculi­form; bracts at bases of clusters and pedicels, and on pedicels, 2–4, ovate-orbiculate to ovate-triangular, membranous, mar­gins ± irregularly serrulate, apex obtuse or acute to bluntly cuspi­date. Pedicels 2–5 mm. Flowers 5-merous, 3.5–4.2 mm, membranous, not papillate; calyx creamy yellow, campanulate, 1/2 corolla tube length, divided to base or nearly so, finely reticulate, shiny, lobes ovate, bases overlapping, margins finely serrulate, midvein not carinate, apex acute to cuspidate; corolla white, drying creamy white, 3.3–4 mm, tube cylindric-campanulate, 2.2–3 mm, not saccate, lobes reflexed, ovate-oblong to ovate-triangular, 1/3–1/2 corolla tube length, margins entire, apex cuspidate-acute to obtuse, straight; infrastaminal scales oblong, rounded, 2–2.7 mm, 3/4–4/5 corolla tube length, bridged at 1–1.4 mm, ± uniformly densely fimbriate, fimbriae 0.3–0.6 mm; stamens exserted, slightly shorter than corolla lobes; filaments 0.6–0.9 mm; anthers 0.6–0.8 × 0.4–0.5 mm; styles filiform, 2–2.6 mm, longer than ovary. Capsules globose to depressed-globose, 2.5–3 × 2.8–3.2 mm, with thickened and raised ridge or collar around relatively small interstylar aperture, translucent, capped by withered corolla, indehiscent. Seeds 2–4, angled, subglobose to broadly ellipsoid, 1.1–1.4 × 1–1.1 mm, hilum region ± terminal. 2n = 30.

Flowering Jun–Oct. Hosts: Asteraceae: including Ambrosia, Amphiachyris, Baccharis, Croptilon, Eclipta, Helianthus, Heterotheca, Iva, Liatris, Solidago; less frequently genera of other families; prairies, sandy places, sometimes ruderal; 50–1500 m; Ark., Colo., Ill., Ind., Iowa, Kans., Ky., La., Miss., Mo., Nebr., N.Mex., N.Dak., Okla., S.Dak., Tex., Utah.

Reports of Cuscuta cuspidata from Connecticut and Wisconsin have not been verified.