Slender dodder

Cuscuta palmeri S. Watson

Stems yellow, slender. Inflores­cences loose, umbelli­form; bracts at base of clusters 1, at base of pedicels 0 or 1, ovate, membranous, margins entire, apex acute. Pedicels 0.7–7 mm, papillate. Flowers 4-merous, 3.5–4.5(–5) mm, membranous, perianth papillate; calyx straw yellow, campanulate, 1/3–1/2 corolla tube length, divided 1/2 its length, not reticulate or shiny, lobes triangular-ovate, bases not overlapping, margins entire, midvein not carinate, apex acute; corolla white, drying creamy white, 3–4 mm, tube cylindric, 1.5–2.5 mm, not saccate, lobes spreading to reflexed, lanceolate, equaling corolla tube, margins entire, often involute and appearing very narrow dry, apex acute, ± cucullate; infrastaminal scales oblong, 1.3–2.1 mm, 1/2 corolla tube length, bridged at 0.4–0.8 mm, rounded, uniformly short-fimbriate, fimbriae 0.05–0.1 mm; stamens exserted, shorter than corolla lobes; filaments 0.3–0.6 mm; anthers 0.4–0.6 × 0.3–0.4 mm; styles fili­form, 1.2–2.1 mm, longer than ovary. Capsules globose, 1.5–2 × 1.6–1.9 mm, slightly thickened and raised around inconspicuous interstylar aperture, translucent, capped by withered corolla, dehiscence circumscissile. Seeds 2–4, angled, subglobose to broadly ellipsoid, 0.7–0.9 × 0.7–0.8 mm, hilum subterminal.

Flowering Feb–Nov. Hosts: Euphorbia subg. Chamaesyce; 10–100 m; N.Mex., Tex.; Mexico (Baja California, Coahuila, Sinaloa, Sonora).