Plants parasitic herbs, attaching to the aerial parts of the host by stem haustoria; stems yellow to pinkish-orange or reddish brown, sometimes with purplish dots, filiform, twining. Leaves reduced to alternate scales. Inflorescences terminal or axillary open or compact cymes. Sepals (3-)4-5, usually connate, sometimes free, persistent in fruit; corollas (3-)4-5-lobed, persistent or deciduous in fruit, sometimes with scales attached to the inside of the tube, alternating with the lobes and opposite the stamens; stamens alternating with the corolla lobes and attached to thetube; ovaries 2-celled, with 2 ovules per cell; styles 1-2, free or untied at the base, sometimes obsolete; stigmas capitate, linear-oblong, or oblong. Fruits capsules, with or without intrastylar opening, 4-seeded or fewer by abortion, remaining closed or irregularly dehiscent near the base.
Cuscuta includes about 150 species and is widely distributed throughout the world, but with most species in the Americas. Several species are important agricultural weeds.
Note: GBIF records include introduced and cultivated plants. Consequently, the distribution shown often differs from statements about a taxon's native distribution.