Family |
Convolvulaceae
Cuscuta balansae
Boiss. & Reut. ex Yunck.
Cuscuta balansae Boiss. & Reut. ex Yunck.
(Mem. Torrey Bot. Club 18: 290; 1932 – Nouvelle Flore du Liban et de la Syrie, vol. 2, Pl. CCXL nº 2; 1969)
• Life-form & habit: Annual holoparasitic herb with slender, twining, yellow to orange filiform stems, 0.2–0.6 mm thick, forming loose or dense tangles over host plants. Haustoria numerous, penetrating host stems and leaves to absorb nutrients.
• Leaves: Greatly reduced to minute, scale-like structures, triangular or ovate, 0.2–0.5 mm long, sessile and translucent.
• Inflorescence & flowers: Clusters of 3–12 flowers in compact or subcapitate cymes, sessile or shortly pedicellate. Calyx cup-shaped, 4–5-lobed, lobes rounded, slightly unequal. Corolla urceolate to campanulate, 2–3 mm long, white to cream, lobes short, broad, obtuse. Scales truncate, fringed, reaching about halfway up the tube. Stamens 5, alternating with scales; anthers oval, exserted slightly beyond corolla lobes. Styles 2, free, slender, about as long as the corolla; stigmas capitate.
• Fruit: Capsule globose, 2–3 mm, slightly depressed at the top, circumscissile or irregularly dehiscent; seeds 4, oblong, smooth or faintly reticulate, brown.
• Phenology: Flowers and fruits from April to August, varying with host availability and elevation.
• Habitat & elevation: Parasitic on herbs and small shrubs in dry steppe, open scrub, and semi-arid grasslands, 400–1 600 m; frequent on limestone and marl substrates.
• Lebanese distribution: Recorded by Mouterde from Mount Lebanon and the Beqaa — notably Dahr el-Baïdar, Zahlé, and Ras Baalbeck; parasitic mainly on Morina persica, Thymelaea hirsuta, and members of Rubiaceae.
• Native range: Afghanistan, Angola, Greece, Iran, Lebanon, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Socotra, Transcaucasus, Türkiye (POWO).
• ⚠️ Taxonomic note: Cuscuta balansae is characterised by its urceolate corolla, truncate fringed scales, and globose circumscissile capsule. It differs from C. planiflora in having a more urn-shaped corolla, slightly longer styles, and larger, less compact inflorescences. In the Levant, it occurs mainly at higher elevations on steppe and submontane slopes, particularly on Morina and other xerophytic hosts.