Rope dodder

Stems orange, medium. Inflores­cences extremely dense, con­tinuous (cymes indiscernible), ropelike, spiraling around and closely appressed to host stem, flowers sessile, commonly ori­ginating endogenously; bracts at base of clusters, pedicels, and/or flowers 4–11, narrowly trian­gular to lanceolate, folded-concave, membranous, mar­gins serrate or lacerate, apex acute, recurved. Pedicels absent. Flowers 5-merous, 5–6 mm, mem­branous, not papillate; calyx stramineous yellow, campanulate-turbinate, equaling corolla tube length, divided to base or nearly so, reticulate, shiny, lobes narrowly triangular to lanceolate, bases overlapping, margins serrate to irregular, midvein not carinate, apex obtuse to acute; corolla white, drying stramineous yellow or brownish, 4.5–5.4 mm, tube cylindric, 3.6–4.4 mm, not saccate, lobes spreading to reflexed, oblong-lanceolate, 1/5–1/4 corolla tube length, margins entire, apex acute to obtuse, straight; infrastaminal scales oblong, 2.5–3 mm, 3/4 corolla tube length, bridged at 1.3–1.7 mm, rounded, ± uniformly fimbriate, fimbriae 0.3–0.5 mm; stamens exserted, shorter than corolla lobes; filaments 0.5–0.7 mm; anthers 0.6–0.8 × 0.3–0.4 mm; styles filiform, 2–3 mm, longer than ovary. Capsules globose to flask-shaped, 3.5–6 × 2–3.5 mm, thickened and raised in collar around style bases, not translucent, capped by withered corolla, indehiscent. Seeds 1 or 2, slightly obcompressed, subglobose, or ovoid, 1.4–1.7 × 1.2–1.6 mm, hilum region terminal. 2n = 30.

Flowering Jul–Oct. Hosts: Ambrosia, Asclepias, Helenium, Helianthus, Liatris, Silphium, Solidago, Symphyotrichum, Vernonia, and others; 100–1000 m; Ark., Ill., Ind., Iowa, Kans., Ky., La., Mich., Minn., Miss., Mo., Nebr., N.Dak., Ohio, Okla., S.Dak., Tenn., Tex., Wis.

Inflorescences in ropelike spirals and capsules with necklike collars provide instant recognition for Cuscuta glomerata.