Cuscuta veatchii

Desert dodder

Family: Convolvulaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Desert dodder is a California native perennial found in the southern San Diego County region in desert habitats at elevations of 400 to 1,500 meters. Flowering from March to October, this parasitic plant produces small, membranous flowers in compact umbel-like clusters with white to cream-colored parts. Growing as a thin, threadlike vine that attaches to host plants, it develops delicate stems that intertwine and wrap around other vegetation. Its flowers are distinctive, with bell-shaped calyxes approximately 1.9 to 3.2 millimeters long, featuring oblong lobes with irregularly fine-toothed margins and suberect corolla lobes. The plant produces small, translucent spheric-ovoid fruits containing a single seed approximately 0.8 to 1.15 millimeters wide.

Habitat: Desert, on

Bloom period: Mar-Oct(Dec)

Elevation: +- 400-1500 m.

Bioregions: DSon (San Diego Co. extirpated)

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