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Cuscuta californica
Also called California Dodder
Cuscuta californica is a species of dodder known by the common names chaparral dodder and California dodder. This is an annual parasitic plant that may resemble fine strands of spaghetti or twine strewn across other species in its habitat. A mature plant of this species may fulfill all of its food and water needs from the host plant, but they rarely kill their host. It is native to western United States and Baja California in Mexico.
This species is found throughout the western United States and parts of Mexico. In the United States, it is found in Arizona, California, Nevada, Oregon, Utah and Washington. In Mexico, it is primarily found in the northwestern portion of the state of Baja California. It grows on numerous herbs and shrubs such as black sage, buckwheat, and deerweed from various habitats, including sandy desert areas, chaparral, coastal sage scrub, grasslands, forests of Pinus ponderosa, and weedy, partially disturbed areas like roadsides. Under these circumstances, they are not considered a noxious weed, but do become problematic when inhabiting agricultural fields and nursery crops. It was also discovered in Flowood, Mississippi on August 12, 2022.
Alfalfa dodder · Australian Dodder · Cuscuta babylonica · Field dodder · Chinese Dodder · Compact dodder · Hazel dodder · Desert dodder · Flax dodder · Dodder · Greater dodder · Rope dodder
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Cuscuta californica by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts are shared under the same licence.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
