Cuscuta suaveolens

Fringed dodder

Family: Convolvulaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Fringed dodder is a naturalized parasitic plant found in the San Joaquin Valley (now extirpated) on herbs, crops, roadsides, and fields at elevations of 25 to 300 meters. Flowering from July to October, this plant produces small white to cream-colored flowers in compact, umbel-like clusters with 5 to 18 individual flowers. Growing as a delicate, thread-like parasitic plant that twines around host plants, it lacks typical roots and leaves. Its distinctive flowers are tiny, about 3 to 5 millimeters long, with densely fringed scales that nearly match the corolla tube length and triangular ovate lobes. The fruit is spherical, approximately 2.5 to 3.5 millimeters wide, partially surrounded by the persistent corolla.

Habitat: Generally on herbs, crops, roadsides, fields

Bloom period: Jul-Oct

Elevation: 25-300 m

Bioregions: SnJV (extirpated)

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