C. Epílinum, Weihe. (Flax Dodder.) Stems very slender, low; flowers globular, sessile in dense scattered heads; corolla 5-parted, short-cylindrical, scarcely exceeding the broadly ovate acute divisions of the calyx, persistent around the capsule; stamens included; scales short, broad, crenulate, shorter than the globose ovary.—Flax-fields; in Europe very injurious; sparingly introduced with flax-seed into the Northern States. June.
C. Epíthymum, Murr. Stems very slender; flowers capitate; corolla-lobes spreading, the cylindrical tube longer than the suberect acute sepals; scales large, contiguous, toothed; stamens exserted.—Occasionally found in clover-fields. (Int. from Eu.)
§ 2. Stigmas capitate; capsule indehiscent.
[*] Calyx gamosepalous; ovary and capsule depressed-globose.
[+] Flowers in dense or globular clusters; corolla with short and wide tube, persistent at the base of the capsule; styles mostly shorter than the ovary.
1. C. chlorocárpa, Engelm. Stems coarse, orange-colored; flowers white (1–1¼´ long); lobes of calyx and corolla (mostly 4) acute, often longer than the tube; scales small, 2-cleft, often reduced to a few teeth; the thin capsule pale greenish-yellow.—Wet places, from Wisc. and Minn. to Ark.; also in Penn. and Del., often on Polygonum.
2. C. arvénsis, Beyrich. Stems pale and slender, low; flowers smaller (hardly 1´´ long); calyx-lobes (5) obtuse, mostly very broad; those of the corolla acuminate, longer than the tube, with inflexed points, scales large, deeply fringed.—Rather dry soil on various low plants, N. Y. to Fla., west to the Pacific. Very variable.
[+][+] Flowers in panicled often compound cymes; styles slender, mostly longer than the ovary; corolla withering on the summit of the large capsule.
3. C. tenuiflòra, Engelm. Stems coarse and yellow, usually rather high-climbing; flowers (1´´ long or less) on short thick pedicels, often 4-merous; lobes of calyx and corolla oblong, obtuse, the latter mostly shorter than the slender deeply campanulate tube; scales shorter than the tube, fringed.—On tall herbs and shrubs in wet places, Penn. to Minn., and south to Tex.
[*][*] Calyx gamosepalous; ovary and capsule pointed, the latter enveloped or capped by the marcescent corolla; flowers in loose panicled cymes.