Parasitic vine with twining, matted mass of thread-like yellowish stems; leaves none to scale like. It lives on the juices of the host plant; hosted by Acacia, Prosopis, Condalia, Datura, Solidago, Hymenoclea and Baccharis among others.
Twining parasitic vine; flowers 5-petaled in rounded clusters, shallowly bell-shaped, petals triangular; flower fleshy with nipple projections; scale-like appendages at the base of the flower; capsule without a terminal lid, 4-seeded.
Habitat
Found on herbaceous plants in moist fields, river flood plains, in major washes, on roadsides and near agriculture below 5,000 feet.
Flower Characteristics
Flowers 1/4 to 1/8 inch long, shallowly bell-shaped, in loose or compact clusters; fleshy, translucent-white; 5 petals, not overlapping; tips curved inward; the flower stalks as long or longer than the flowers; 5 sepals are similar to the petals.
Leaf and Stem Characteristics
Stems coarse, slender, often transparent or yellow-orange, green; leaves none to scale-like, generally narrow to triangular. Seedlings break contact with the ground and twine about host plant using suckers to absorb water and nutrients.
Fruit and Seed Characteristics
Round capsule with 4 seeds, 1/8 to 1/4 inch, sometimes with glands.