Cuscuta nevadensis

Desert dodder

Family: Convolvulaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Desert dodder is a California native perennial found in the desert mountains in desert habitats at elevations of 400 to 1,500 meters. Flowering from May to October, this parasitic plant produces small, intricate flowers 3 to 4 millimeters long with delicate white to cream-colored parts. Growing as a threadlike, yellow-orange vine that parasitizes other shrubs, it attaches and wraps around host plants without producing its own chlorophyll. Its flowers feature bell-shaped corollas with widely ovate scales and erect to reflexed lobes, creating complex, umbel-like clusters with 1 to 2 flowers. The tiny spheric-ovoid fruit measures 1.4 to 2.1 millimeters wide and contains a single seed.

Habitat: Desert, on shrubs in

Bloom period: May-Oct

Elevation: 400-1500 m

Bioregions: DMtns

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