Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Asterids: Lamiids: Solanales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Cuscuta compacta
FAMILY
Convolvulaceae
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
Check out this Key to the Dodders of Alabama from Daniel Spaulding (Phytoneuron).
Read about the remarkably similar Dodder Laurel from Lytton Musselman and the Southern Appalachian Botanical Society.
Read more about Cuscuta at Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
INCLUDING
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Cuscuta compacta var. compacta
FAMILY
Cuscutaceae
INCLUDING Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Cuscuta compacta var. compacta
INCLUDING Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Cuscuta compacta var. efimbriata
SYNONYMOUS WITH Key to the dodders (Cuscuta, Convolvulaceae) of Alabama and adjacent states (Spaulding, 2013)
Cuscuta compacta
SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 158-01-002:
Cuscuta compacta FAMILY Convolvulaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Cuscuta compacta
COMMON NAME:
Compact Dodder
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
)
JK Marlow jkm120211_038
February Spartanburg County SC
)
JK Marlow jkm140822_986
August Greenville County SC
Swamp Rabbit Trail
Flowers subtended by 1-10 bracts, per Key to the Dodders (Cuscuta, Convolvulaceae) of Alabama and Adjacent States (Spaulding, 2013).
)
JK Marlow jkm140822_986b
August Greenville County SC
Swamp Rabbit Trail
Bracts orbicular with rounded tips, imbricate, tightly subtending flower, per Key to the Dodders (Cuscuta, Convolvulaceae) of Alabama and Adjacent States (Spaulding, 2013).
)
JK Marlow jkm140822_994
August Greenville County SC
Swamp Rabbit Trail
Seems to prefer woody hosts but does parasitze herbaceous plants, per Key to the Dodders (Cuscuta, Convolvulaceae) of Alabama and Adjacent States (Spaulding, 2013).
)
JK Marlow jkm140822_994b
August Greenville County SC
Swamp Rabbit Trail
Flowers in sessile compact clusters, pedicels absent, per Weakley's Flora (2012).
)
JK Marlow jkm140909_612
September Greenville County SC
Swamp Rabbit Trail
Bracts tightly appressed (vs. loose with recurved tips in C. glomerata), per Key to the Dodders (Cuscuta, Convolvulaceae) of Alabama and Adjacent States (Spaulding, 2013).
)
JK Marlow jkm140909_614
September Greenville County SC
Swamp Rabbit Trail
Capsule globose-conic, capped by the withered corolla, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
)
JK Marlow jkm140909_624
September Greenville County SC
Swamp Rabbit Trail
C. compacta creates a dense rope-like glomerule cluster about the stem of host, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
)
JK Marlow jkm140930_002
September Greenville County SC
Cleveland Park
)
JK Marlow jkm140930_996
September Greenville County SC
Cleveland Park
)
JK Marlow jkm140930_999
September Greenville County SC
Cleveland Park
This growing on Japanese Knotweed.
)
Keith Bradley kab_cuscuta_compacta_3214
November Richland County SC
Three Rivers Greenway
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Cuscuta compacta
FAMILY
Convolvulaceae
INCLUDING
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Cuscuta compacta var. compacta
FAMILY
Cuscutaceae
INCLUDING
Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Cuscuta compacta var. compacta
INCLUDING
Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Cuscuta compacta var. efimbriata
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Key to the dodders (Cuscuta, Convolvulaceae) of Alabama and adjacent states (Spaulding, 2013)
Cuscuta compacta
SYNONYMOUS WITH
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 158-01-002:
Cuscuta compacta
FAMILY
Convolvulaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Cuscuta compacta
3478
Herbaceous vine
Annual
Habitat: Bottomland forests, stream banks, marshes, swamps, pine savannas, calcareous seeps and streambanks, wet fields, other wet habitats, on herbaceous and especially on woody hosts, per Weakley's Flora
Native to the Carolinas & Georgia
Common
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.
LEAVES:
Stems twining, often yellowish-orange, leafless
FLOWER:
Summer/Fall
Whitish/ Creamy/ Greenish
Flowers are sessile.
Usually 5-merous
5-lobed campanulate corolla (usually)
Superior ovary
FRUIT:
Summer/Fall
Capsule
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- Field Guide to the Rare Plants of Georgia (Chafin, 2007) p111
- Wildflowers of the Sandhills Region (Sorrie, 2011) p179
If a search such as "Carex leptalea var. leptalea" doesn't deliver the results you want, try "Carex leptalea".
Or, to minimize chances of a misspelling, try just "Carex le".
Less is more: If "pencil flower" doesn't deliver the results you want, try "pencil".