Cuscuta europaeaL.

greater dodder

WFO wfo-0001297552 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC0 / CC BY

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Cuscuta europaea, photographed by Jason Grant
fig. a Jason Grant, CC BY 4.0 / 2022-06-02 / obs. 202774152
Cuscuta europaea, photographed by Andrew Bazdyrev
fig. b Andrew Bazdyrev, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 171971529
Cuscuta europaea, photographed by Евгений Егорейченков
fig. c Евгений Егорейченков, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 151262431
Cuscuta europaea, photographed by iljar
fig. d iljar, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 148919939
Cuscuta europaea, photographed by Силаева Татьяна Борисовна
fig. e Силаева Татьяна Борисовна, CC0 1.0 / obs. 148337811
Cuscuta europaea, photographed by Thomas Koffel
fig. f Thomas Koffel, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 150169663
Cuscuta europaea, photographed by Силаева Татьяна Борисовна
fig. g Силаева Татьяна Борисовна, CC0 1.0 / obs. 146138539
Cuscuta europaea, photographed by Иван Шихалев
fig. h Иван Шихалев, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 143536317

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 74 botanical countries

Regions where Cuscuta europaea is native: Morocco, Afghanistan, Altay, Amur, Buryatiya, China North-Central, China South-Central, Chita, East Aegean Is., Inner Mongolia, Iran, Iraq, Irkutsk, Japan, Kazakhstan, Khabarovsk, Kirgizstan, Krasnoyarsk, Lebanon-Syria, Manchuria, North Caucasus, Palestine, Primorye, Qinghai, Sakhalin, Tadzhikistan, Tibet, Transcaucasus, Türkiye, Turkmenistan, Tuva, Uzbekistan, West Siberia, Xinjiang, Yakutiya, East Himalaya, India, Nepal, West Himalaya, Albania, Austria, Baltic States, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Central European Russia, Corse, Czechia-Slovakia, Denmark, East European Russia, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Kriti, Krym, Netherlands, North European Russia, Northwest European Russia, Norway, NW. Balkan Pen., Poland, Portugal, Romania, Sardegna, South European Russia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Türkiye-in-Europe, Ukraine MoroccoAfghanistanAltayAmurBuryatiyaChina North-CentralChina South-CentralChitaEast Aegean Is.Inner MongoliaIranIraqIrkutskJapanKazakhstanKhabarovskKirgizstanKrasnoyarskLebanon-SyriaManchuriaNorth CaucasusPalestinePrimoryeQinghaiSakhalinTadzhikistanTibetTranscaucasusTürkiyeTurkmenistanTuvaUzbekistanWest SiberiaXinjiangYakutiyaEast HimalayaIndiaNepalWest HimalayaAlbaniaAustriaBaltic StatesBelarusBelgiumBulgariaCentral European RussiaCorseCzechia-SlovakiaDenmarkEast European RussiaFinlandFranceGermanyGreeceHungaryItalyKritiKrymNetherlandsNorth European RussiaNorthwest European RussiaNorwayNW. Balkan Pen.PolandPortugalRomaniaSouth European RussiaSpainSwedenSwitzerlandTürkiye-in-EuropeUkraine Sardegna
Native distribution of Cuscuta europaea, 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
Albania ALB EUROPE
Austria AUT
Baltic States BLT
Belarus BLR
Belgium BGM
Bulgaria BUL
Central European Russia RUC
Corse COR
Czechia-Slovakia CZE
Denmark DEN
East European Russia RUE
Finland FIN
France FRA
Germany GER
Great Britain GRB
Greece GRC
Hungary HUN
Italy ITA
Kriti KRI
Krym KRY
Netherlands NET
North European Russia RUN
Northwest European Russia RUW
Norway NOR
NW. Balkan Pen. YUG
Poland POL
Portugal POR
Romania ROM
Sardegna SAR
South European Russia RUS
Spain SPA
Sweden SWE
Switzerland SWI
Türkiye-in-Europe TUE
Ukraine UKR
Afghanistan AFG ASIA-TEMPERATE
Altay ALT
Amur AMU
Buryatiya BRY
China North-Central CHN
China South-Central CHC
Chita CTA
East Aegean Is. EAI
Inner Mongolia CHI
Iran IRN
Iraq IRQ
Irkutsk IRK
Japan JAP
Kazakhstan KAZ
Khabarovsk KHA
Kirgizstan KGZ
Krasnoyarsk KRA
Lebanon-Syria LBS
Manchuria CHM
North Caucasus NCS
Palestine PAL
Primorye PRM
Qinghai CHQ
Sakhalin SAK
Tadzhikistan TZK
Tibet CHT
Transcaucasus TCS
Türkiye TUR
Turkmenistan TKM
Tuva TVA
Uzbekistan UZB
West Siberia WSB
Xinjiang CHX
Yakutiya YAK
East Himalaya EHM ASIA-TROPICAL
India IND
Nepal NEP
West Himalaya WHM
Morocco MOR AFRICA

Not drawn on the map: Great Britain. We hold no public-domain boundary for this region, so it is listed rather than guessed at.

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.

Flowering 109 in flower of 135 examined

Peak flowering in Jul. Each bar is the share of Cuscuta europaea observations in which someone actually recorded the reproductive state and found the plant in flower, not the raw number of flowering records. That distinction matters: people observe plants far more in spring than in winter, so a bare count of flowering records partly measures when people go outside. Dividing by the number examined removes that. 109 of 135 examined observations were in flower, every one of them research grade. The whisker on each bar is a 95% Wilson interval. 8 months have fewer than 5 examined observations, so no proportion is drawn for them. This is still a global aggregate and not a forecast for your garden: the same species flowers on different dates in different hemispheres. Where a species has fewer than 30 flowering records we do not draw this chart at all. Computed from 10.15468/dl.cgje2x.

Also published as 20 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.

  • Cassytha major Gray
  • Cuscuta brachystyla K.Koch
  • Cuscuta capillaris Edgew.
  • Cuscuta epicnidea Bernh.
  • Cuscuta epitriphyllum Bernh.
  • Cuscuta europaea subsp. halophyta (Fr.) Hartm.
  • Cuscuta filiformis Lam.
  • Cuscuta halophila Engelm.
  • Cuscuta halophyta Fr.
  • Cuscuta indica (Engelm.) Petrov ex Butkov
  • Cuscuta ligustri F.Aresch.
  • Cuscuta schkuhriana Pfeiff.
  • Cuscuta segetum Rota
  • Cuscuta solani Holuby
  • Cuscuta tetrandra Moench
  • Cuscuta tetrasperma Jan ex Engelm.
  • Cuscuta tubulosa J.Presl & C.Presl
  • Cuscuta urceolata Stokes
  • Cuscuta viciae F.Schultz ex Des Moul.
  • Cuscuta vulgaris Pers.

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.