Cuscuta howelliana

Boggs lake dodder

Family: Convolvulaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Boggs lake dodder is a California native parasitic perennial found in the Klamath Ranges, northern Coast Ranges, northern Sierra Nevada foothills, Great Valley, and Modoc Plateau in margins of vernal pools at elevations of 140 to 1,650 meters. Flowering from August to September, this plant produces small, membranous flowers in dense head-like clusters on its host plant, with cream to white-tinged blossoms approximately 3 to 4.5 millimeters long. Growing as a twining, thread-like parasite without chlorophyll, it attaches to and derives nutrients from host plants through specialized structures. Its flowers feature distinctive triangular-ovate calyx lobes with entire margins and recurved tips, and corolla tubes with densely fringed scales that are about half the length of the tube. The tiny spheric to spheric-depressed fruit contains one to four seeds, each approximately one millimeter wide.

Habitat: Margins of vernal pools generally on

Bloom period: Aug-Sep

Elevation: 140-1650 m

Bioregions: KR/CaRH, NCoRI, CaRF, n SNF, GV, MP.

California counties: Siskiyou, Lake, Sonoma, Butte, Tehama, Sacramento, Yuba, Lassen, Shasta, Placer, Glenn, Yolo, Merced, Amador, Napa

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