Cuscuta indecoraChoisy

bigseed alfalfa dodder

WFO wfo-0001297221 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC BY / CC BY-SA

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 6 observations

This species has been photographed under an open licence only 6 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 indecora, photographed by Eric Knight
fig. a Eric Knight, CC BY 4.0 / 2021-12-29 / obs. 174001362
Cuscuta indecora, photographed by Brian Finzel
fig. b Brian Finzel, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 174280719
Cuscuta indecora, photographed by Jessica
fig. c Jessica, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 85212724
Cuscuta indecora, photographed by Jared Shorma
fig. d Jared Shorma, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 53955273
Cuscuta indecora, photographed by Martín José Ferreyra
fig. e Martín José Ferreyra, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 118942656
Cuscuta indecora, photographed by Eric Knight
fig. f Eric Knight, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 174001373
Cuscuta indecora, photographed by Brian Finzel
fig. g Brian Finzel, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 174280707
Cuscuta indecora, photographed by Kenzie Anderson-Bell
fig. h Kenzie Anderson-Bell, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 162258858

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 51 botanical countries

Regions where Cuscuta indecora is native: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mexico Northeast, Mexico Southeast, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Saskatchewan, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming, Belize, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Jamaica, Panamá, Puerto Rico, Windward Is. AlabamaArizonaArkansasCaliforniaColoradoConnecticutFloridaGeorgiaIdahoIllinoisIowaKansasKentuckyLouisianaMexico NortheastMexico SoutheastMichiganMinnesotaMississippiMissouriMontanaNebraskaNevadaNew JerseyNew MexicoNorth CarolinaNorth DakotaOhioOklahomaOregonSaskatchewanSouth CarolinaSouth DakotaTennesseeTexasUtahVirginiaWashingtonWest VirginiaWisconsinWyomingBelizeColombiaCosta RicaCubaDominican RepublicHaitiJamaicaPanamáPuerto Rico Windward Is.
Native distribution of Cuscuta indecora, 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
Alabama ALA NORTHERN AMERICA
Arizona ARI
Arkansas ARK
California CAL
Colorado COL
Connecticut CNT
Florida FLA
Georgia GEO
Idaho IDA
Illinois ILL
Iowa IOW
Kansas KAN
Kentucky KTY
Louisiana LOU
Mexico Northeast MXE
Mexico Southeast MXT
Michigan MIC
Minnesota MIN
Mississippi MSI
Missouri MSO
Montana MNT
Nebraska NEB
Nevada NEV
New Jersey NWJ
New Mexico NWM
North Carolina NCA
North Dakota NDA
Ohio OHI
Oklahoma OKL
Oregon ORE
Saskatchewan SAS
South Carolina SCA
South Dakota SDA
Tennessee TEN
Texas TEX
Utah UTA
Virginia VRG
Washington WAS
West Virginia WVA
Wisconsin WIS
Wyoming WYO
Belize BLZ SOUTHERN AMERICA
Colombia CLM
Costa Rica COS
Cuba CUB
Dominican Republic DOM
Haiti HAI
Jamaica JAM
Panamá PAN
Puerto Rico PUE
Windward Is. WIN

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 18 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 decora Choisy ex Engelm.
  • Cuscuta decora var. indecora (Choisy) Engelm.
  • Cuscuta decora var. pulcherrima (Scheele) Engelm.
  • Cuscuta decora var. subnuda Engelm.
  • Cuscuta hispidula Engelm.
  • Cuscuta indecora var. hispidula Yunck.
  • Cuscuta indecora var. neuropetala (Engelm.) Hitchc.
  • Cuscuta indecora var. portoricensis Urb.
  • Cuscuta indecora var. subnuda (Engelm.) Yunck.
  • Cuscuta neuropetala Engelm.
  • Cuscuta neuropetala var. littoralis Engelm. & A.Gray
  • Cuscuta neuropetala var. minor Engelm. & A.Gray
  • Cuscuta parviflora var. vestita Progel
  • Cuscuta pulcherrima Scheele
  • Cuscuta verrucosa var. hispidula Engelm.
  • Epithymum indecorum (Choisy) Nieuwl. & Lunell
  • Grammica indecora (Choisy) W.A.Weber
  • Grammica indecora subsp. neuropetala (Engelm.) W.A.Weber

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.