Mountain dodder

Cuscuta salina Engelmann var. acuminata Yuncker, Illinois Biol. Monogr. 6: 162, plate 6, fig. 32f,g, plate 11, fig. 89. 1921; C. suksdorfii var. subpedicellata Yuncker

Stems yellow, slender. Inflo­rescences loose, umbelliform; bracts at base of clusters 1, at base of pedicels and/or flowers 0 or 1, ovate-lanceolate, membranous, margins entire, apex acute. Pedicels 0–2 mm. Flowers 4- or 5-merous, 2.8–3.3 mm, mem­bra­nous, not papillate; calyx slightly zygomorphic, creamy yellow, broadly campanulate, 1-1/3–1-1/2 corolla tube length, divided 1/2–3/5 its length, not reticulate or shiny, lobes ovate, bases not overlapping, margins entire, midvein not carinate, apex long-attenuate; corolla white, drying creamy yellow, 2.6–3 mm, tube campan­ulate, 1.2–1.5 mm, not saccate, lobes sub­erect, triangular-ovate, longer than corolla tube length, margins entire, apex lance-attenuate, straight; infra­staminal scales relatively poorly developed, oblong, 0.6–1 mm, 1/2–3/4 corolla tube length, bridged at 0.2–0.3 mm, usually reduced to denticulate wings, rarely 2-fid with 1–3 fimbriae on each side of filament attachments, 0.1–0.2 mm; stamens included or barely visible through corolla sinuses, shorter than corolla lobes; filaments 0.2–0.5 mm; anthers 0.2–0.4 × 0.2–0.3 mm; styles terete to slightly subulate, 0.3–0.7 mm, 1/4 ovary length. Capsules ellipsoid-ovoid, ovoid-conic, or globose to depressed-globose, 2–3.2 × 2–3.6 mm, not thickened or raised around relatively small interstylar aperture, translucent, proximal 1/2 surrounded by withered corolla, indehiscent. Seeds 2–4, obcompressed, subglobose, 0.8–1.1 × 0.8–1 mm, hilum subterminal.

Flowering Jul–Sep. Hosts: mostly herbs: Asteraceae, Cistanthe, Trifolium, and others; mountain meadows; 1500–2600 m; Calif., Oreg., Wash.