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Parasitic Flower on Cantaloupe Stem Identification Help
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Posted by
dampriver Tucson, AZ (
My Page) on
Fri, Jun 29, 12 at 16:39
| I live just outside Tucson, AZ. This morning, while checking my cantaloupe plants, I noticed this bright cluster of magenta flowers about the size of a pea. I thought another plant had gotten into my melon patch. When I looked closer, I see that the flower stem is coming directly out of the cantaloupe stem. I'm assuming it's some sort of parasitic plant. There are no leaves on the mystery flower stem. The cantaloupes have all flowered normal yellow flowers and fruit has set on many of them. Today is June 29th, 2012 and the temperatures have been between 75� at night to 112� during the day. The melons get full sun in the morning until about 2 PM. This is just a mystery that's baffling me. Any help is greatly appreciated. |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Parasitic Flower on Cantaloupe Stem Identification Help
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| The leaves don't look like cantaloupe that I'm used to seeing, too shiny and not rough like sandpaper. Just saying. |
RE: Parasitic Flower on Cantaloupe Stem Identification Help
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- Posted by bboy USDA 8 Sunset 5 WA (My Page) on
Fri, Jun 29, 12 at 20:49
| Yes, the flower belongs to the vine - which is not a melon vine. |
RE: Parasitic Flower on Cantaloupe Stem Identification Help
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| I took a another picture of the same vine with the real cantaloupe flowers. The original photo shows some of the new leaf growth near the tip. They're a little curly due to the heat. The seeds I planted were cantaloupes. It truly is a melon vine and though I've grown melons for the past 10 years here, I never have seen something like this. |
RE: Parasitic Flower on Cantaloupe Stem Identification Help
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| This issue has come up on this forum before. If memory serves, it is a species of Dodder, a parasitic vine that has pink blooms. |
Here is a link that might be useful: photo of Dodder flowers
RE: Parasitic Flower on Cantaloupe Stem Identification Help
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Here is a link that might be useful: Dodder
RE: Parasitic Flower on Cantaloupe Stem Identification Help
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| Thanks, seedmoney! That makes a lot of sense. |
RE: Parasitic Flower on Cantaloupe Stem Identification Help
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- Posted by bboy USDA 8 Sunset 5 WA (My Page) on
Sat, Jun 30, 12 at 23:53
| Dodder was what I expected it to be before I saw the picture, which really makes it look like the flowerhead is coming out of the vine itself. |
RE: Parasitic Flower on Cantaloupe Stem Identification Help
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| That is very different than the dodder I have seen here in Ohio, but very cool. However don't let it go to seed and be very vigilant about keeping it from spreading or you will be very sorry. An established dodder infestation can be a nightmare to eradicate. |
RE: Parasitic Flower on Cantaloupe Stem Identification Help
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| I still don't see the resemblance to dodder. I also think the first plant is not a melon. Isn't it possible that the vine and the flower are the same plant? |
RE: Parasitic Flower on Cantaloupe Stem Identification Help
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| I'm with plantwizard, I think. I just keep going back to this thread & following it with interest. The flowering plant doesn't look like dodder to me, and the vine in the first photo doesn't look like the vine in the second photo. |
RE: Parasitic Flower on Cantaloupe Stem Identification Help
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- Posted by bboy USDA 8 Sunset 5 WA (My Page) on
Sun, Jul 1, 12 at 18:02
| Without looking I assumed it had been demonstrated that the pink dodder shown at the links had the same flower as in the original picture, but now I see it does not - and looks instead quite like the white dodder we have in my area, except for the coloring of the flowers. After the comments succeeding mine I assumed there was one of the tan tendril-like stems coming up from below, beyound the range of focus to make it appear the pink flowerhead in the original picture was coming out of the stem of the vine. Today, when it is earlier in the day and I am more focused I see once again that the vine in the original picture is not a melon and that the pink flowerhead is coming directly out of its own stem. If you look closely there is no mistaking that the flowers are those of the "melon" plant. And these flowers do not have the same structure as those of dodder. |
RE: Parasitic Flower on Cantaloupe Stem Identification Help
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RE: Parasitic Flower on Cantaloupe Stem Identification Help
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| I pulled the plant, thinking it was Dodder and I have another melon patch. There is indeed another plant nestled in there. I thought I was so careful tracing the vine back to the roots, but I guess I wasn't as careful as I thought. It looks just like Boerhavia, and now that I untangled everything, I see that's just what it is. I feel like an idiot, but appreciate all the help!!! Thanks everyone. I'll definitely be more careful next time. |
RE: Parasitic Flower on Cantaloupe Stem Identification Help
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dampriver..no need to feel like an idiot. This was a very interesting thread. We all learned from it. ;)
Enjoy your cantaloupes!! |
RE: Parasitic Flower on Cantaloupe Stem Identification Help
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Dampriver,
Gracious, we are all here to help each other--one of the things I love about this forum is the sheer determination of the responders to "get it right." The disagreements over what something is or isn't is half the fun! As earline noted, we all learned something today and are better because of it. Yay, team! |
RE: Parasitic Flower on Cantaloupe Stem Identification Help
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| Agreed. I especially look for the posts with lots of comments - they're the most likely to be interesting, and the most likely to teach me something. |
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