Editing Cuscuta (section)

{{Short description|Genus of parasitic plants}}
{{Redirect|Dodder|the river in Dublin|River Dodder}}
{{About-distinguish-text|a genus in the family [[Convolvulaceae]]|a similar-looking, unrelated genus [[Cassytha]], in the [[Lauraceae]]}}
{{Automatic taxobox
|image = Cuscuta europaea bgiu.jpg
|image_caption = ''[[Cuscuta europaea]]'' on ''[[Sambucus ebulus]]''
|parent_authority =
|taxon = Cuscuta
|authority = [[Carl Linnaeus|L.]]
|subdivision_ranks = Species
|subdivision = ''See [[List of Cuscuta species|list]]''
}}
[[File:Cuscuta in Iran II.jpg|alt=Cuscuta|thumb|Cuscuta]]
'''''Cuscuta''''' ({{IPAc-en|k|ʌ|s|ˈ|k|juː|t|ə}}), commonly known as '''dodder''' or '''amarbel''', is a genus of over 201 species of yellow, orange, or red (rarely green) [[parasitic plant]]s. Formerly treated as the only genus in the family Cuscutaceae, it now is accepted as belonging in the [[morning glory]] family, [[Convolvulaceae]], on the basis of the work of the [[Angiosperm Phylogeny Group]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Stefanovic|first1=S. |last2=Olmstead|first2=R. G. |year=2004 |title=Testing the phylogenetic position of a parasitic plant (''Cuscuta'', Convolvulaceae, Asteridae): Bayesian inference and the parametric bootstrap on data drawn from three genomes |journal=[[Systematic Biology]] |volume=53 |issue=3 |pages=384–99 |doi=10.1080/10635150490445896 |pmid=15503669 |doi-access=free}}</ref> The genus is found throughout the [[middle latitudes|temperate]] and [[tropics|tropical]] regions of the world, with the greatest species diversity in [[subtropics|subtropical]] and tropical regions; the genus becomes rare in cool [[temperate climate]]s, with only four species native to [[northern Europe]].<ref>{{cite web |last=Costea|first=M. |year=2007 |url=https://specialprojects.wlu.ca/herbarium/digital-atlas-of-cuscuta-convolvulaceae/ |title=Digital Atlas of ''Cuscuta'' (Convolvulaceae) |publisher=[[Wilfrid Laurier University]] Herbarium |location=[[Ontario]], Canada |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180404093023/https://specialprojects.wlu.ca/herbarium/digital-atlas-of-cuscuta-convolvulaceae/ |archive-date=2018-04-04 |postscript=. Cuscuta has a major role in [[ayurveda]] also. Cuscuta is a traditional medicine in China, India, etc.}}</ref>

Folk names include strangle tare, strangleweed, scaldweed, beggarweed,<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url=http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Cuscuta.aspx |title=Cuscuta |encyclopedia=Gale Encyclopedia of Alternative Medicine |year=2005 |last1=Davidson|first1=Tish |last2=Frey|first2=Rebecca}}</ref> lady's laces, fireweed,<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=W4ur0wJ8uEoC&pg=PT149 |page=149|title=Cunningham's Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs |last=Cunningham|first=Scott |year=2012 |publisher=Llewellyn Worldwide |isbn=9780738717135}}</ref> wizard's net, devil's guts, devil's hair, devil's ringlet, goldthread, hailweed, hairweed, hellbine, love vine, pull-down, angel hair, and witch's hair.<ref name=npr/>