SafePlants

Compact Dodder (Cuscuta compacta)

Compact dodder is a fascinating parasitic plant with a unique lifestyle. Here's a closer look at this species:

Considerations for Pets

• Compact dodder attaches itself to other plants, sometimes even fleshy ones like Jewelweed.
• The plant has coarse, stringy stems.
• Dodder is described as having smooth stems.
• The stems are yellow to orange.
• Compact dodder may wreath its host in small white flowers.

Considerations for Children

• Compact dodder attaches itself to other plants, sometimes even fleshy ones like Jewelweed.
• The plant has coarse, stringy stems.
• Dodder is described as having smooth stems.
• The stems are yellow to orange.
• Compact dodder may wreath its host in small white flowers.

Scientific Classification

• Scientific Name: Cuscuta compacta Juss. ex Choisy
• Common Name: Compact dodder
• Family: Convolvulaceae (Morning-glory Family)
• Kingdom: Plantae
• Taxonomic Rank: Species, Variety
• Subordinate Taxa: Cuscuta compacta var. compacta Juss. ex Choisy
• Synonyms: Cuscuta campestris (synonym for Field Dodder, Cuscuta pentagona)

Distribution and Habitat

• Compact dodder is native to North America.
• Its range extends into southern New England at its northeastern limit.

Ecological Role

• Compact dodder is a parasitic plant.
• It is considered an invasive species.
• It parasitizes many herbaceous and woody plants.

Morphological Characteristics

• It is an annual plant.
• It has coarse, stringy stems.
• Flowers are in sessile compact clusters.
• Pedicels are absent, per Weakley's Flora.
• Flowers are arranged in compact glomerules.
• Flowers are very tiny - less than half a.
• Dodder is described as having yellow to orange smooth stems.
• Flowers are arranged in compact, globose clusters.
• Inflorescences are lateral and compact (about 10 mm diameter).
• Flowers may be white and small, wreathing the host.

Quirky Facts

• Pawnee girls used Compact Dodder to divine the sincerity of suitors.

Interactions with Other Organisms

• Compact dodder is a parasite, attaching to host plants to obtain nutrients.
• It has been observed attached to Jewelweed stems.

Further Information

• USDA PLANTS Database: CUCO2
• Discover Life: Biology, natural history, ecology, identification and distribution of Cuscuta compacta
• Dave's Garden: Community sharing tips and ideas for gardens
• ISM Herbarium: Records of Cuscuta compacta specimens
• Weakley's Flora
• USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913. An illustrated flora of the northern United States, Canada and the British