Cuscuta campestris
species of the plant morning glory
Cuscuta campestris, with the common names field dodder, golden dodder, large-seeded alfalfa dodder, yellow dodder and prairie dodder, is a parasitic plant which belongs to the family Convolvulaceae. It was formerly classified in the family Cuscutaceae.
It is native to central North America. It is a parasite of a wide range of herbaceous plants.
It is a pest of lucerne (alfalfa) and other legumes. It has become a widespread weed in many countries. It is known as 'golden dodder' in Australia.
It has been confused in some recent literature with Cuscuta pentagona Engelmann, but the differences between the two species are clear.
The seeds of this plant have been found to become dispersed by waterfowl in significant numbers.
Description
The life cycle of the Cuscuta starts with seed germination.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Cuscuta campestris” is species of the plant morning glory. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Cuscuta, campestris and species, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “species of the plant morning glory” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Stable identifiers, scientific names and standards terminology offer the best bridge between this overview and specialist evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 21, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q940418. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference.
Scientific names, classifications and consensus can change while older terminology persists in catalogues and historical literature. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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This entry incorporates text from “Cuscuta campestris” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.