Cuscuta californica (Chaparral Dodder, Witches' Hair)

5/6/01 Chaparral Dodder on Laurel Sumac. 

Gabrielino Trail (Chantry Flat to Sturtevant Falls), San Gabriel Mountains, 

Los Angeles County, CA 

5/22/99 Eaton Canyon Natural Area, San Gabriel Mountains, Los Angeles County, CA

LIFE LIST NOTES:

COMMON NAME: Chaparral Dodder, Witches' Hair

SPECIES: Cuscuta californica

FAMILY: Convolvulaceae (Morning Glory Family)

LIFE LIST DATE: 5/22/1999

LOCATION: Eaton Canyon Natural Area, San Gabriel Mountains, Los Angeles County, CA

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Treatment from The Jepson Manual (1993):

Inflorescence spike-like

Flower 2.6–4 mm; calyx persistent, lobes 5, spreading to recurved, lanceolate, acute to acuminate, 0.5–1 X corolla tube; corolla persistent, shallowly bell-shaped, gland-dotted, lobes 5, ± 3–6 mm, reflexed to spreading, lanceolate, acute, appendages 0–0.1 mm; filaments 0.7–1.4 mm, anthers 0.2–1.1 mm; ovary 1–2 mm, generally obovoid, gland-dotted, top generally depressed, styles 0.7–3 mm

Fruit 1.5–2 mm, enveloped by perianth, generally obovoid; top generally depressed

Ecology: On herbs and shrubs on roadsides, chaparral, grassland, yellow-pine forest

Elevation: generally < 2500 m.  

Bioregional distribution: California Floristic Province, East of Sierra Nevada, Sonoran Desert 

Distribution outside California: to Washington, Colorado, Mexico