Cuscuta europaea L.

Greater dodder (en), Grande cuscute (fr), Grande Cuscute (fr), Cuscute d’Europe (fr)

Species

Angiosperms > Solanales > Convolvulaceae > Cuscuta

Characteristics

Stems yellowish or reddish, filiform. Inflorescences lateral, compact glomerules, few to many flowered. Pedicel to 1.5 mm. Calyx cupular; sepals 4 or 5, triangular-ovate, sometimes unequal, ca. 1.5 mm. Corolla pink, urceolate, 2.5-3 mm; lobes 4 or sometimes 5, persistent, often reflexed, triangular-ovate. Stamens inserted below sinus; filaments longer than anthers; anthers ovate-circular; scales very thin, obovate, 2-cleft or sometimes entire, sparingly fimbriate. Ovary subglobose. Styles 2; stigmas divergent or curved, filiform, ca. as long as or shorter than styles. Capsule capped by withered corolla, subglobose, ca. 3 mm in diam., circumscissile. Seeds often 4, pale brown, elliptic, ca. 1 mm, scabrous. 2n = 14.
More
Fls on short stout pedicels in dense head-like clusters, all or mostly 4-merous; cal-lobes broadly ovate, very obtuse, about equaling the tube of the short-cylindric, eventually calyptrate cor; styles and stigmas slender, together much shorter than the ovary; fr globose, ca 3 mm high and thick, circumscissile near the base; seeds mostly 4, ca 1.5 mm. Native of Europe, intr. here and there in our range.
Life form annual
Growth form herb
Growth support climber parasite
Foliage retention -
Sexuality hermaphrodite
Pollination
Spread barochory
Mature width (meter) -
Mature height (meter) 0.0
Root system -
Rooting depth (meter) -
Root diameter (meter) -
Flower color
Blooming months
JanFebMar
AprMayJun
JulAugSep
OctNovDec
Fruit color -
Fruiting months -
Nitrogen fixer -
Photosynthetic pathway c3

Environment

Open grassy localities, streamsides and hilly areas at elevations from 800-3,100 metres in China.
Light 4-9
Soil humidity 4-7
Soil texture 1-6
Soil acidity 3-7
Soil nutriment -
Hardiness (USDA) 5-10

Usage

Uses medicinal poison
Edible -
Therapeutic use Alterative (unspecified), Anodyne (unspecified), Aperient (unspecified), Apertif (unspecified), Aphrodisiac (unspecified), Cancer (unspecified), Carminative (unspecified), Demulcent (unspecified), Depurative (unspecified), Diuretic (unspecified), Liver (unspecified), Scurvy (unspecified), Sudorific (unspecified), Tonic (unspecified), Cholagogues and choleretics (unspecified), Laxatives (unspecified), Liver diseases (unspecified), Urinary bladder diseases (unspecified)
Human toxicity -
Animal toxicity -

Cultivation

Can be grown by cuttings or seedlings.
Mode cuttings seedlings
Germination duration (days) -
Germination temperacture (C°) -
Germination luminosity -
Germination treatment -
Minimum temperature (C°) -
Optimum temperature (C°) -
Size -
Vigor -
Productivity -

Images

Habit

Cuscuta europaea habit picture by eric wessels (cc-by-sa)
Cuscuta europaea habit picture by Clara Wagner (cc-by-sa)

Leaf

Cuscuta europaea leaf picture by sral lars (cc-by-sa)
Cuscuta europaea leaf picture by David Hocken (cc-by-sa)
Cuscuta europaea leaf picture by Franco-Parguiña Héctor (cc-by-sa)

Flower

Cuscuta europaea flower picture by eigenraam kees (cc-by-sa)
Cuscuta europaea flower picture by kilian Schuermans (cc-by-sa)
Cuscuta europaea flower picture by Llandrich anna (cc-by-sa)

Fruit

Cuscuta europaea fruit picture by Llandrich anna (cc-by-sa)
Cuscuta europaea fruit picture by Thomas DESFOSSEZ (cc-by-sa)
Cuscuta europaea fruit picture by Llandrich anna (cc-by-sa)

Distribution

Cuscuta europaea world distribution map, present in Afghanistan, Albania, Andorra, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Belarus, Switzerland, China, Czech Republic, Germany, Denmark, Algeria, Spain, Estonia, Finland, France, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Georgia, Greece, Croatia, Hungary, India, Iran (Islamic Republic of), Iraq, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Liberia, Libya, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Latvia, North Macedonia, Malta, Myanmar, Montenegro, Mongolia, Netherlands, Norway, Nepal, Pakistan, Poland, Romania, Russian Federation, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, Tajikistan, Turkey, Ukraine, United States of America, Uzbekistan, and South Africa

Identifiers

LSID urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:267425-1
WFO ID wfo-0001297552
COL ID 32LR6
BDTFX ID 20335
INPN ID 93623
Wikipedia (EN) Link
Wikipedia (FR) Link

Synonyms

Cuscuta capillaris Cuscuta viciae Cuscuta urceolata Cuscuta filiformis Cuscuta tetrandra Cuscuta vulgaris Cuscuta europaea subsp. halophyta Cuscuta europaea

Lower taxons

Cuscuta europaea var. europaea Cuscuta europaea var. indica