Difference between revisions of "Cuscuta gronovii"

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===Seed bank and germination===
 
===Seed bank and germination===
Seeds germinate in soil, but roots die off as the plant twines around a host and sends out suckers that penetrate the host's tissues and obtain nutrients.<ref name="Ladybird">Plant database: ''Cuscuta gronovii''. (25 January 2018) Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. URL: https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=CUGR</ref> Embryogenesis studies reveal no primary root meristem in this species.<ref name="Truscott 1966"/>
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''C. gronovii'' seeds are known to survive in dry storage for up to 30 years and a 12 year study in simulated bog environments supports such lengthly longevity in the seed bank (reviewed in <ref name="Sandler 2010">Sandler HA (2010) Managing ''Cuscuta gronovii'' (swamp dodder)
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in cranberry requires an integrated approach. Sustainability 2:660-683.</ref>). Seeds germinate in soil, but roots die off as the plant twines around a host and sends out suckers that penetrate the host's tissues and obtain nutrients.<ref name="Ladybird">Plant database: ''Cuscuta gronovii''. (25 January 2018) Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. URL: https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=CUGR</ref> Embryogenesis studies reveal no primary root meristem in this species.<ref name="Truscott 1966"/>
 
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Revision as of 10:02, 26 January 2018

Cuscuta gronovii
Cuscuta gronovii AFP.jpg
Photo by the Atlas of Florida Plants Database
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Magnoliophyta - Flowering plants
Class: Magnoliopsida - Dicots
Order: Solanales
Family: Cuscutaceae
Genus: Cuscuta
Species: C. gronovii
Binomial name
Cuscuta gronovii
Willd
CUSC GRON DIST.JPG
Natural range of Cuscuta gronovii from USDA NRCS Plants Database.

Common Name: swamp dodder; common dodder;[1] scaldweed[2]

Taxonomic Notes

Synonym: Grammica gronovii[1]
Varieties: C. gronovii var. gronovii;[1][2] C. gronovii var. latiflora;[1] C. gronovii var. calyptrata[2]

Description

C. gronovii is a dioecious perennial that grows as a forb/herb or vine.[2] Scales can produce up to five axillary branches, which can then become their own plant after contacting a host.[3] Its seeds weight 2.3 g and is reported to have 22,900 seeds in a single clump.[4] Other dodder species have a very limited photosynthetic ability that decreases with age. It is likely C. gronovii is similar in this regard.[5]

Distribution

This species is found in all of the lower 48 United States except for Washington, California, Nevada, and Utah. It is also found in Canada from Alberta eastward to Quebec, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia.[2]

Ecology

Habitat

This species is found on a wide variety of herbaceous and woody plants within stream banks, bottomland forests, bogs, marshes, swamps, wet fields, and wet disturbed areas.

Phenology

Flowering occurs from late July through November in the southeastern and mid-Atlantic United States.[1]

Seed bank and germination

C. gronovii seeds are known to survive in dry storage for up to 30 years and a 12 year study in simulated bog environments supports such lengthly longevity in the seed bank (reviewed in [6]). Seeds germinate in soil, but roots die off as the plant twines around a host and sends out suckers that penetrate the host's tissues and obtain nutrients.[7] Embryogenesis studies reveal no primary root meristem in this species.[3]

Conservation and Management

Cultivation and restoration

Photo Gallery

References and notes

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Weakley AS (2015) Flora of the Southern and Mid-Atlantic States. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Herbarium.
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 USDA NRCS (2016) The PLANTS Database (http://plants.usda.gov, 25 January 2018). National Plant Data Team, Greensboro, NC 27401-4901 USA.
  3. 3.0 3.1 Truscott FH (1966) Some aspects of morphogenesis in Cuscuta gronovii. American Journal of Botany 53(7):739-750.
  4. Stevens OA (1957) Weights of seeds and numbers per plant. Weeds 5(1):46-55.
  5. Pattee HE, Allred KR, Wiebe HH (1965) Photosynthesis in dodder. Weeds 13(3):193-195.
  6. Sandler HA (2010) Managing Cuscuta gronovii (swamp dodder) in cranberry requires an integrated approach. Sustainability 2:660-683.
  7. Plant database: Cuscuta gronovii. (25 January 2018) Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. URL: https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=CUGR