About Cuscuta compacta Juss. ex Choisy
Cuscuta compacta Juss. ex Choisy is a stem parasitic plant with yellowish stems that wrap around host plants. Its flowers are very small, growing in clusters of four to five. Each flower has a tube or cylinder shape, measuring 5 mm long and 2 mm wide. Flower sepals have obtuse tips, while corolla tips gradually acuminate to a sharp point. The stamens measure 0.3 mm long and are exerted, and the pistil style measures 0.5 mm long. Scales on this species are shorter than the corolla tube. Its capsules are tubular, 3 mm long and 2 mm wide. Fresh seeds are brown and 2 mm in length.
This species can be found in the lower 48 United States, Canada, Africa, Europe, South America, China, and Australia. It can be seen wrapped around its host plants from July through November. Its habitat includes bottomland forests near stream banks, marshes, swamps, and other wet habitats. It can parasitize both herbaceous and woody plant hosts, and specializes especially in woody hosts. The genus Cuscuta is highly diverse and found across the world, with the majority of species in the Americas.
