Giant Dodder Cuscuta reflexa
Giant Dodder is an introduced perennial vine, found in the lower 48 states.
More about this plant
Cuscuta reflexa, the giant dodder or ulan ulan, is one of about 220 species in genus Cuscuta, in the family Convolvulaceae. It is common in the Indian subcontinent and the Greater Himalayas and as far south as Malaysia and Indonesia. This parasitic plant species is a leafless twined sprawling thin vine that grows over a host plant, including large trees. It will make garlands hanging down from tree canopies as long as 10 metres (33 ft). The flowers are small, bell shaped and white with yellow filaments. Wikipedia →
Growing & care
USDA PLANTS · TRY- Hardiness
- ≥ zone 11 derived from its U.S. range
- Lifespan
- Perennial
- Foliage
- Broadleaf
Wildlife & pollinators
How pollinator value is scored →❧ Caterpillar hosts ~2 caterpillar species
Cuscuta supports ~2 caterpillar species.
Native butterfly & moth caterpillars are the base of the terrestrial food web — most songbirds rear their young almost entirely on them. As a host for native Lepidoptera this is a modest genus.
Recorded feeding on Cuscuta in North America, including:
✦ Bees specialist-bee host
Specialist native bees depend on it.
Some native bees are pollen specialists (oligolectic) — they raise young only on pollen from particular plant genera. Cuscuta is a recorded specialist-bee host, so losing it can mean losing the bee that relies on it.
Related plants
More Cuscuta →
How we know this (1) Methods & honest limits
A recorded categorical fact: each species is tagged C3 (standard), C4 (heat/water-efficient) or CAM (succulent, night-time CO₂ uptake) — or a facultative combination. We only show a trait card for the noteworthy C4/CAM cases; C3 is the unremarkable majority, kept in the data but not surfaced as a card.
Sources for this entry (14) Open & cited
Cite this page Open data, please attribute
PlantKey’s data is open under CC BY-SA 4.0 — free to reuse and adapt, with attribution and the same licence. Photos keep their own per-image licence + credit (see Sources above).
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