Cuscuta pacifica
Encyclopedia
Cuscuta pacifica is a species of dodder
. Native to the coast of western North America from British Columbia
to Baja California
, it lives in coastal salt marsh
habitats. It is a slender annual vine with yellowish thread-like stems that wrap tightly around other plants. The leaves are reduced to tiny scales, and it possesses no roots because it is a parasitic plant
, like all Cuscuta
, and taps nutrients from host plants with its haustoria
. The salt marsh dodder produces flowers with bell-shaped, white glandular corollas with five pointed triangular lobes. It tends to parasitize Salicornia, but also may be found on other species such as Jaumea carnosa
and Grindelia stricta
.
The species includes two varieties. Cuscuta pacifica var. pacifica is significantly more common, occurring throughout the species range. Cuscuta pacifica var. papillata is a very rare endemic of sand-dune habitats in Mendocino County. Previous treatments included this species as two varieties of a more broadly defined Cuscuta salina
, but they were recently recognized to be distinct species with clear habitat and host affinities and reproductively isolated from Cuscuta salina var. salina.
Cuscuta
Cuscuta is a genus of about 100-170 species of yellow, orange or red parasitic plants. Formerly treated as the only genus in the family Cuscutaceae, recent genetic research by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group has shown that it is correctly placed in the morning glory family, Convolvulaceae...
. Native to the coast of western North America from British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
to Baja California
Baja California
Baja California officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is both the northernmost and westernmost state of Mexico. Before becoming a state in 1953, the area was known as the North...
, it lives in coastal salt marsh
Salt marsh
A salt marsh is an environment in the upper coastal intertidal zone between land and salt water or brackish water, it is dominated by dense stands of halophytic plants such as herbs, grasses, or low shrubs. These plants are terrestrial in origin and are essential to the stability of the salt marsh...
habitats. It is a slender annual vine with yellowish thread-like stems that wrap tightly around other plants. The leaves are reduced to tiny scales, and it possesses no roots because it is a parasitic plant
Parasitic plant
A parasitic plant is one that derives some or all of its sustenance from another plant. About 4,100 species in approximately 19 families of flowering plants are known. Parasitic plants have a modified root, the haustorium, that penetrates the host plant and connects to the xylem, phloem, or...
, like all Cuscuta
Cuscuta
Cuscuta is a genus of about 100-170 species of yellow, orange or red parasitic plants. Formerly treated as the only genus in the family Cuscutaceae, recent genetic research by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group has shown that it is correctly placed in the morning glory family, Convolvulaceae...
, and taps nutrients from host plants with its haustoria
Haustorium
In botany, a haustorium is the appendage or portion of a parasitic fungus or of the root of a parasitic plant that penetrates the host's tissue and draws nutrients from it. Haustoria do not penetrate the host's cell membranes.Fungi in all major divisions form haustoria...
. The salt marsh dodder produces flowers with bell-shaped, white glandular corollas with five pointed triangular lobes. It tends to parasitize Salicornia, but also may be found on other species such as Jaumea carnosa
Jaumea carnosa
Jaumea carnosa, known by the common names marsh jaumea, fleshy jaumea, or simply jaumea, is a halophytic salt marsh plant native to the west coast of North America. It has succulent green leaves on soft pinkish-green stems, not unlike ice plant in appearance. Its flowers are yellow...
and Grindelia stricta
Grindelia stricta
Grindelia stricta is a species of flowering plant in the daisy family known by the common names Oregon gumplant and Oregon gumweed. It is native to the west coast of North America from California to Alaska, where it is a resident of coastal plant communities such as those in marshes and beaches...
.
The species includes two varieties. Cuscuta pacifica var. pacifica is significantly more common, occurring throughout the species range. Cuscuta pacifica var. papillata is a very rare endemic of sand-dune habitats in Mendocino County. Previous treatments included this species as two varieties of a more broadly defined Cuscuta salina
Cuscuta salina
Cuscuta salina is a species of dodder known by the common name salt marsh dodder. It is native to western North America, where it lives in seasonal alkaline or saline habitats such as vernal pools and salt flats. It is a parasitic plant, wrapping itself around wetland vegetation and tapping them...
, but they were recently recognized to be distinct species with clear habitat and host affinities and reproductively isolated from Cuscuta salina var. salina.