Convolvulaceae FAMILY

Cuscuta europaea

Edibility

0/5

Medicinal

2/5

Safety & Hazards

None known

Botanical Description

Cuscuta europaea is an annual climbing plant with slender stems that twine into the surrounding vegetation for support. The plant is a total parasite and does not produce chlorophyll, instead obtaining nutrients from a host plant by means of suckers[ 266 Title Flora of China Publication Author Website http://flora.huh.harvard.edu/china/ Publisher Missouri Botanical Garden Press; St. Louis. Year 1994 ISBN Description An excellent, comprehensive resource in 25 volumes. In addition to the botanical information the flora also gives basic information on habitat and some uses. An on-line version is also available. ]. The plant is harvested from the wild for local use as a medicine. Cuscuta species can severely affect the plants they parasitize - when this involves plants sown as crops, yields can be badly impacted. Many Cuscuta species, therefore, are classified as weeds and sometimes have controls over their movements.

Habitat & Origin

Origintemperate

Native RangeWidespread through most of temperate Europe and Asia, though seemingly absent from Korea and much of the Russian Far East; N. Africa - Morocco

HabitatOpen grassy localities, streamsides and hilly areas[ at elevations from 800 - 3,100 metres in China[ 266 Title Flora of China Publication Author Website http://flora.huh.harvard.edu/china/ Publisher Missouri Botanical Garden Press; St. Louis. Year 1994 ISBN Description An excellent, comprehensive resource in 25 volumes. In addition to the botanical information the flora also gives basic information on habitat and some uses. An on-line version is also available. ].