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  "last_modified": "2025-12-15",
  "id": {
    "slug": "cuscuta-chinensis",
    "wfo": "wfo-0001296656",
    "inat_taxon_id": 601626
  },
  "name": {
    "scientific": "Cuscuta chinensis",
    "authorship": "Lam.",
    "genus": "Cuscuta",
    "epithet": "chinensis",
    "family": "Convolvulaceae",
    "rank": "species",
    "taxonomic_status": "accepted",
    "accepted_according_to": "World Flora Online Plant List, 2026-06",
    "is_homonym": false,
    "published_in": "Encycl. 2: 229 (1786)",
    "protologue_url": null,
    "common": {
      "preferred": "Gila River dodder",
      "english": [
        "Gila River dodder"
      ],
      "source": "usda"
    },
    "synonyms": [
      {
        "name": "Cuscuta alataloba var. monosperma",
        "authorship": "Yunck."
      },
      {
        "name": "Cuscuta applanata",
        "authorship": "Engelm."
      },
      {
        "name": "Cuscuta carinata",
        "authorship": "R.Br."
      },
      {
        "name": "Cuscuta chinensis var. carinata",
        "authorship": "(R.Br.) Engelm."
      },
      {
        "name": "Cuscuta ciliaris",
        "authorship": "Hohen."
      },
      {
        "name": "Cuscuta exigua",
        "authorship": "Herb.Par. ex Engelm."
      },
      {
        "name": "Cuscuta fimbriata",
        "authorship": "Bunge ex Engelm."
      },
      {
        "name": "Cuscuta maritima",
        "authorship": "Makino"
      },
      {
        "name": "Cuscuta sulcata",
        "authorship": "Roxb."
      },
      {
        "name": "Grammica aphylla",
        "authorship": "Lour."
      },
      {
        "name": "Grammica applanata",
        "authorship": "(Engelm.) Hadač & Chrtek"
      },
      {
        "name": "Pentake chinense",
        "authorship": "(Lam.) Raf."
      }
    ],
    "wikipedia": null
  },
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    "usable_found": 5,
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  },
  "native_range": {
    "scheme": "TDWG World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions, level 3",
    "source": "Kew, World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP v16)",
    "license": "CC BY 3.0",
    "excludes": [
      "introduced",
      "extinct",
      "location_doubtful"
    ],
    "codes": [
      "ERI",
      "ETH",
      "GHA",
      "MDG",
      "SOC",
      "SUD",
      "AFG",
      "CHN",
      "CHC",
      "CHS",
      "CHI",
      "IRN",
      "IRQ",
      "JAP",
      "KAZ",
      "KGZ",
      "KOR",
      "CHM",
      "MON",
      "NNS",
      "PRM",
      "CHQ",
      "SAU",
      "TZK",
      "TAI",
      "CHT",
      "TKM",
      "UZB",
      "CHX",
      "AND",
      "ASS",
      "BAN",
      "IND",
      "MYA",
      "NEP",
      "PAK",
      "SRL",
      "THA",
      "VIE",
      "WHM",
      "NSW",
      "NTA",
      "QLD",
      "WAU",
      "ARI",
      "MXC",
      "MXE",
      "MXN",
      "MXS",
      "NWM",
      "TEX",
      "UTA"
    ],
    "regions": [
      {
        "code": "ERI",
        "name": "Eritrea",
        "continent": "AFRICA",
        "region": "Northeast Tropical Africa"
      },
      {
        "code": "ETH",
        "name": "Ethiopia",
        "continent": "AFRICA",
        "region": "Northeast Tropical Africa"
      },
      {
        "code": "GHA",
        "name": "Ghana",
        "continent": "AFRICA",
        "region": "West Tropical Africa"
      },
      {
        "code": "MDG",
        "name": "Madagascar",
        "continent": "AFRICA",
        "region": "Western Indian Ocean"
      },
      {
        "code": "SOC",
        "name": "Socotra",
        "continent": "AFRICA",
        "region": "Northeast Tropical Africa"
      },
      {
        "code": "SUD",
        "name": "Sudan-South Sudan",
        "continent": "AFRICA",
        "region": "Northeast Tropical Africa"
      },
      {
        "code": "AFG",
        "name": "Afghanistan",
        "continent": "ASIA-TEMPERATE",
        "region": "Western Asia"
      },
      {
        "code": "CHN",
        "name": "China North-Central",
        "continent": "ASIA-TEMPERATE",
        "region": "China"
      },
      {
        "code": "CHC",
        "name": "China South-Central",
        "continent": "ASIA-TEMPERATE",
        "region": "China"
      },
      {
        "code": "CHS",
        "name": "China Southeast",
        "continent": "ASIA-TEMPERATE",
        "region": "China"
      },
      {
        "code": "CHI",
        "name": "Inner Mongolia",
        "continent": "ASIA-TEMPERATE",
        "region": "China"
      },
      {
        "code": "IRN",
        "name": "Iran",
        "continent": "ASIA-TEMPERATE",
        "region": "Western Asia"
      },
      {
        "code": "IRQ",
        "name": "Iraq",
        "continent": "ASIA-TEMPERATE",
        "region": "Western Asia"
      },
      {
        "code": "JAP",
        "name": "Japan",
        "continent": "ASIA-TEMPERATE",
        "region": "Eastern Asia"
      },
      {
        "code": "KAZ",
        "name": "Kazakhstan",
        "continent": "ASIA-TEMPERATE",
        "region": "Central Asia"
      },
      {
        "code": "KGZ",
        "name": "Kirgizstan",
        "continent": "ASIA-TEMPERATE",
        "region": "Central Asia"
      },
      {
        "code": "KOR",
        "name": "Korea",
        "continent": "ASIA-TEMPERATE",
        "region": "Eastern Asia"
      },
      {
        "code": "CHM",
        "name": "Manchuria",
        "continent": "ASIA-TEMPERATE",
        "region": "China"
      },
      {
        "code": "MON",
        "name": "Mongolia",
        "continent": "ASIA-TEMPERATE",
        "region": "Mongolia"
      },
      {
        "code": "NNS",
        "name": "Nansei-shoto",
        "continent": "ASIA-TEMPERATE",
        "region": "Eastern Asia"
      },
      {
        "code": "PRM",
        "name": "Primorye",
        "continent": "ASIA-TEMPERATE",
        "region": "Russian Far East"
      },
      {
        "code": "CHQ",
        "name": "Qinghai",
        "continent": "ASIA-TEMPERATE",
        "region": "China"
      },
      {
        "code": "SAU",
        "name": "Saudi Arabia",
        "continent": "ASIA-TEMPERATE",
        "region": "Arabian Peninsula"
      },
      {
        "code": "TZK",
        "name": "Tadzhikistan",
        "continent": "ASIA-TEMPERATE",
        "region": "Central Asia"
      },
      {
        "code": "TAI",
        "name": "Taiwan",
        "continent": "ASIA-TEMPERATE",
        "region": "Eastern Asia"
      },
      {
        "code": "CHT",
        "name": "Tibet",
        "continent": "ASIA-TEMPERATE",
        "region": "China"
      },
      {
        "code": "TKM",
        "name": "Turkmenistan",
        "continent": "ASIA-TEMPERATE",
        "region": "Central Asia"
      },
      {
        "code": "UZB",
        "name": "Uzbekistan",
        "continent": "ASIA-TEMPERATE",
        "region": "Central Asia"
      },
      {
        "code": "CHX",
        "name": "Xinjiang",
        "continent": "ASIA-TEMPERATE",
        "region": "China"
      },
      {
        "code": "AND",
        "name": "Andaman Is.",
        "continent": "ASIA-TROPICAL",
        "region": "Indo-China"
      },
      {
        "code": "ASS",
        "name": "Assam",
        "continent": "ASIA-TROPICAL",
        "region": "Indian Subcontinent"
      },
      {
        "code": "BAN",
        "name": "Bangladesh",
        "continent": "ASIA-TROPICAL",
        "region": "Indian Subcontinent"
      },
      {
        "code": "IND",
        "name": "India",
        "continent": "ASIA-TROPICAL",
        "region": "Indian Subcontinent"
      },
      {
        "code": "MYA",
        "name": "Myanmar",
        "continent": "ASIA-TROPICAL",
        "region": "Indo-China"
      },
      {
        "code": "NEP",
        "name": "Nepal",
        "continent": "ASIA-TROPICAL",
        "region": "Indian Subcontinent"
      },
      {
        "code": "PAK",
        "name": "Pakistan",
        "continent": "ASIA-TROPICAL",
        "region": "Indian Subcontinent"
      },
      {
        "code": "SRL",
        "name": "Sri Lanka",
        "continent": "ASIA-TROPICAL",
        "region": "Indian Subcontinent"
      },
      {
        "code": "THA",
        "name": "Thailand",
        "continent": "ASIA-TROPICAL",
        "region": "Indo-China"
      },
      {
        "code": "VIE",
        "name": "Vietnam",
        "continent": "ASIA-TROPICAL",
        "region": "Indo-China"
      },
      {
        "code": "WHM",
        "name": "West Himalaya",
        "continent": "ASIA-TROPICAL",
        "region": "Indian Subcontinent"
      },
      {
        "code": "NSW",
        "name": "New South Wales",
        "continent": "AUSTRALASIA",
        "region": "Australia"
      },
      {
        "code": "NTA",
        "name": "Northern Territory",
        "continent": "AUSTRALASIA",
        "region": "Australia"
      },
      {
        "code": "QLD",
        "name": "Queensland",
        "continent": "AUSTRALASIA",
        "region": "Australia"
      },
      {
        "code": "WAU",
        "name": "Western Australia",
        "continent": "AUSTRALASIA",
        "region": "Australia"
      },
      {
        "code": "ARI",
        "name": "Arizona",
        "continent": "NORTHERN AMERICA",
        "region": "Southwestern U.S.A."
      },
      {
        "code": "MXC",
        "name": "Mexico Central",
        "continent": "NORTHERN AMERICA",
        "region": "Mexico"
      },
      {
        "code": "MXE",
        "name": "Mexico Northeast",
        "continent": "NORTHERN AMERICA",
        "region": "Mexico"
      },
      {
        "code": "MXN",
        "name": "Mexico Northwest",
        "continent": "NORTHERN AMERICA",
        "region": "Mexico"
      },
      {
        "code": "MXS",
        "name": "Mexico Southwest",
        "continent": "NORTHERN AMERICA",
        "region": "Mexico"
      },
      {
        "code": "NWM",
        "name": "New Mexico",
        "continent": "NORTHERN AMERICA",
        "region": "South-Central U.S.A."
      },
      {
        "code": "TEX",
        "name": "Texas",
        "continent": "NORTHERN AMERICA",
        "region": "South-Central U.S.A."
      },
      {
        "code": "UTA",
        "name": "Utah",
        "continent": "NORTHERN AMERICA",
        "region": "Southwestern U.S.A."
      }
    ]
  },
  "phenology": {
    "n": 12,
    "n_annotated": 14,
    "sufficient": false,
    "doi": null,
    "source": "GBIF SQL download of iNaturalist Research-grade Observations",
    "quality_grade": "research (guaranteed upstream by iNaturalist at export)",
    "fields": {
      "by_month": "observations found IN FLOWER, by month (Jan..Dec)",
      "annotated_by_month": "observations in which a human recorded the reproductive state at all, by month. This is the denominator, and it includes the records that said \"no flowers or fruits\".",
      "share": "by_month / annotated_by_month. null where too few plants were examined to state a proportion.",
      "ci": "95% Wilson score interval on share.",
      "peak_month": "the month with the highest SHARE, not the highest count."
    }
  },
  "traits": {
    "lifeform": "holoparasitic annual",
    "climate": "subtropical"
  },
  "climate_envelope": null,
  "identification": {
    "on_device_model": {
      "model": "Google AIY plants V1 (TFLite, 2,102 classes)",
      "identifies_this_species": false
    },
    "in_accuracy_benchmark": false,
    "benchmark_url": "https://botanai.app/accuracy/",
    "confused_with": []
  },
  "sources": [
    {
      "name": "World Flora Online Plant List",
      "note": "accepted name, authority, classification",
      "license": "CC0",
      "url": "https://www.worldfloraonline.org/",
      "retrieved": "2026-07-12"
    },
    {
      "name": "iNaturalist",
      "note": "photographs and flowering annotations, CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA only",
      "license": "per photograph",
      "url": "https://www.inaturalist.org/",
      "retrieved": "2026-06-27"
    },
    {
      "name": "USDA PLANTS Database",
      "note": "common name, checklist symbol CUAP",
      "license": "public domain",
      "url": "https://plants.usda.gov/",
      "retrieved": "2026-07-13"
    },
    {
      "name": "Kew, World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP v16)",
      "note": "native distribution by TDWG level-3 botanical country, and life form",
      "license": "CC BY 3.0",
      "url": "https://doi.org/10.15468/6h8ucr",
      "retrieved": "2026-06-04"
    }
  ],
  "gaps": [
    {
      "field": "care",
      "status": "not_published",
      "reason": "Not published anywhere on this site. Every care claim we could make cheaply would be an unsourced enum, which is what the previous version of this site did and why it was deleted."
    },
    {
      "field": "toxicity",
      "status": "not_published",
      "reason": "Not published. The widely copied list is a copyrighted compilation restricted to noncommercial use, and we will not scrape it. A sourced toxicity dataset is being built from primary literature and is not ready."
    },
    {
      "field": "botanical_review",
      "status": "not_sourced",
      "reason": "No page on this site has been reviewed by a named botanist. The determination label says so, on every page."
    },
    {
      "field": "climate_envelope",
      "status": "insufficient_evidence",
      "reason": "Fewer than 30 georeferenced research-grade observations of this taxon, which is too few to state a percentile range for the conditions it grows in. We would rather show nothing than a range computed from eight points in one county."
    },
    {
      "field": "hardiness_zone",
      "status": "not_published",
      "reason": "Not published for any species. A USDA hardiness zone is the average annual EXTREME minimum temperature, and we hold the mean daily minimum of the coldest month, which is a different quantity and typically about 16 C warmer. Presenting one as the other would place a plant several zones too warm, so we do not publish a zone at all."
    },
    {
      "field": "phenology",
      "status": "insufficient_evidence",
      "reason": "Only 12 annotated flowering records, below our threshold of 30. A curve fitted to a dozen records is noise, so we do not draw one."
    }
  ],
  "license": {
    "data": "CC BY 4.0",
    "attribution": "BotanAI, https://botanai.app/plants/cuscuta-chinensis/",
    "note": "This document is licensed CC BY 4.0. The PHOTOGRAPHS it links are licensed individually and separately: each carries its own license and license_url, and those terms govern. Underlying taxonomy is CC0 (World Flora Online); native range is CC BY 3.0 (Kew)."
  }
}