Cuscuta_campestris
Cuscuta campestris
Species of flowering plant
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 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.[2]
Remarkably, the seeds of the plant have been found to become dispersed by waterfowl in significant numbers.[3]