Cuscuta cephalanthiEngelm.

buttonbush dodder

WFO wfo-0001297203 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC0 / CC BY

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 4 observations

This species has been photographed under an open licence only 4 times, so some figures below are different views of the same plant, taken on the same day, rather than different individuals. They are usually different parts of it: the leaf, the flower, the bark.

Cuscuta cephalanthi, photographed by Allan Harris
fig. a Allan Harris, CC0 1.0 / 2017-07-24 / obs. 72375194
Cuscuta cephalanthi, photographed by Ian Manning
fig. b Ian Manning, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 28219645
Cuscuta cephalanthi, photographed by Allan Harris
fig. c Allan Harris, CC0 1.0 / obs. 72375249
Cuscuta cephalanthi, photographed by Rose Zappa
fig. d Rose Zappa, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 106890544
Cuscuta cephalanthi, photographed by Reuven Martin
fig. e Reuven Martin, CC0 1.0 / obs. 89343902
Cuscuta cephalanthi, photographed by Ian Manning
fig. f Ian Manning, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 28219628
Cuscuta cephalanthi, photographed by Rose Zappa
fig. g Rose Zappa, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 106890548
Cuscuta cephalanthi, photographed by Ian Manning
fig. h Ian Manning, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 28219649

Every figure is a research-grade observation under CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA, rehosted with the photographer’s name, the licence and the observation it came from. Photographs under a NonCommercial licence are excluded from this site and are never stored, which costs us a great many pictures and is not negotiable.

Native range 47 botanical countries

Regions where Cuscuta cephalanthi is native: Alberta, Arizona, Arkansas, British Columbia, California, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Manitoba, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mexico Northeast, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Brunswick, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Nova Scotia, Ohio, Oklahoma, Ontario, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode I., South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin AlbertaArizonaArkansasBritish ColumbiaCaliforniaConnecticutGeorgiaIllinoisIndianaIowaKansasKentuckyMaineManitobaMarylandMassachusettsMexico NortheastMichiganMinnesotaMontanaNebraskaNevadaNew BrunswickNew JerseyNew MexicoNew YorkNorth CarolinaNorth DakotaNova ScotiaOhioOklahomaOntarioOregonPennsylvaniaSouth CarolinaSouth DakotaTennesseeTexasUtahVermontVirginiaWashingtonWest VirginiaWisconsin DelawareDistrict of ColumbiaRhode I.
Native distribution of Cuscuta cephalanthi, after Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Introduced, extinct and doubtful records are excluded, so this is where the plant is from, not everywhere it now grows. Regions too small to draw at this scale are marked with a dot.
RegionTDWG codeContinent
Alberta ABT NORTHERN AMERICA
Arizona ARI
Arkansas ARK
British Columbia BRC
California CAL
Connecticut CNT
Delaware DEL
District of Columbia WDC
Georgia GEO
Illinois ILL
Indiana INI
Iowa IOW
Kansas KAN
Kentucky KTY
Maine MAI
Manitoba MAN
Maryland MRY
Massachusetts MAS
Mexico Northeast MXE
Michigan MIC
Minnesota MIN
Montana MNT
Nebraska NEB
Nevada NEV
New Brunswick NBR
New Jersey NWJ
New Mexico NWM
New York NWY
North Carolina NCA
North Dakota NDA
Nova Scotia NSC
Ohio OHI
Oklahoma OKL
Ontario ONT
Oregon ORE
Pennsylvania PEN
Rhode I. RHO
South Carolina SCA
South Dakota SDA
Tennessee TEN
Texas TEX
Utah UTA
Vermont VER
Virginia VRG
Washington WAS
West Virginia WVA
Wisconsin WIS

Region boundaries approximated from Natural Earth (public domain) and mapped to TDWG World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions (WGSRPD) level-3 botanical countries (Brummitt 2001). Indicative, not the official WGSRPD geometry.

Also published as 2 synonyms

A synonym is not an error. It is a record of botanists disagreeing, in print, about where this plant belongs. Each of these was somebody’s considered answer.

  • Cuscuta tenuiflora Engelm.
  • Epithymum cephalanthi (Engelm.) Nieuwl. & Lunell

Sourcesevery claim on this page

  1. World Flora Online Plant List. accepted name, authority, classification. CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-12.
  2. iNaturalist. photographs and flowering annotations, CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA only. per photograph. Retrieved 2026-06-27.
  3. Wikidata. common name (P1843), joined on the World Flora Online identifier (P7715). CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-13.
  4. Kew, World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP v16). native distribution by TDWG level-3 botanical country, and life form. CC BY 3.0. Retrieved 2026-06-04.

We publish what we can source and we say so when we cannot. This page has no care advice and no toxicity claim, because we do not yet have those from a source we can cite.