Cuscuta : tù sī zǐ .

Sounds: t, s, z.

Rhymes: u, i, i.

Interpretation: also known as Tusi Zi, Wu Maiden Vine, Wu Rooted Vine, and Luo Silk Zi, it is a species of Cuscuta under the family Cuscutaceae, and is a physiologically specialized It is a parasitic plant with special physiological structure. It is distributed in China and Iran, and is usually parasitized on various plants in the families of Leguminosae, Asteraceae and Tribulus terrestris.

Annual parasitic herb. Stems twining, yellow, slender, ca. 1 mm in diameter, leafless.

Inflorescences lateral, few-flowered or many-flowered clusters into umbellules or glomerules, nearly sessile; bracts and bracteoles small, scalelike; pedicels slightly stout, only 1 mm or so long; calyx cup-shaped, coherent below the middle, lobes triangular, ca. 1.5 mm long, apical tip obtuse; corolla white, pot-shaped, ca. 3 mm long, lobes triangular-ovate, apical tip acute or obtuse, reflexed outward, persistent.

Stamens inserted slightly below the curved emargination of the corolla lobes; scales oblong, with long fimbriate margins; ovary subglobose, styles 2, equal or unequal, stigmas globose.

Capsules globose, ca. 3 mm in diam., almost entirely surrounded by persistent corolla, neatly circumscissile at maturity. Seeds 2-49, pale brown, ovate, ca. 1 mm, surface rough.