Cuscuta campestris

Field dodder

Family: Convolvulaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Field dodder is a native parasitic plant found in northern coastal California, northern inner coastal ranges, Sierra Nevada foothills, Central Valley, central coastal, and southern coastal regions in various habitats including fields, roadsides, and on other herbs at elevations below 500 meters. Flowering from May to November, this plant produces small white to cream-colored flowers in compact head- to raceme-like clusters with 6 to 25 individual flowers. Growing as a thin, threadlike parasitic vine that lacks chlorophyll and wraps around host plants, it attaches to and derives nutrients from other vegetation. Its flowers are small, approximately 2.1 to 3.6 millimeters long, with a cup-shaped calyx and bell-shaped corolla featuring delicate, fringed scales. The fruit is spheric and slightly flattened, translucent, and contains four small seeds approximately 1.1 to 1.5 millimeters in size.

Habitat: Generally on herbs, many crops, roadsides, fields

Bloom period: May-Nov

Elevation: < 500 m

Bioregions: NCo, NCoRI, SNF, GV, CCo, SCo

California counties: Butte, San Diego, Ventura, Los Angeles, Sacramento, Inyo, San Bernardino, Tulare, Humboldt, Marin, Riverside, Santa Clara, Mendocino, Siskiyou, Sonoma, Orange, Merced, Alameda, San Joaquin, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Madera, Kern, Yolo, San Mateo, Stanislaus, San Benito, Imperial, Napa, Glenn, Tehama, Solano, Lake, Fresno, Santa Cruz, Shasta, Del Norte, Kings, Yuba, Plumas, Sutter, Calaveras, Monterey

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.