Cuscuta campestris Yunck.

Algeria: Cuscuta campestris germinates from late spring to all summer; flowering takes place from May to October.
Mayotte: C. campestris flowers and fruits all year round.

C. reflexa occurs in Mauritius but not in La Reunion Island.

Cuscuta campestris is a C3 species.

Madagascar: C. campestris is found in different regions of Madagascar but especially on the highlands, especially near residential areas, on roadsides. It is a cosmopolitan parasite species of some indigenous species like Psiadia altissima, weeds in particular Stachytarpheta, Bidens, some useful plants (Psidium, Durantha) and crops (cassava)
Mauritius: Common Parasitic plant in various stations.
Mayotte: C. campestris is an exotic species locally naturalized in the secondarized open environments of the hygrophilic region, in particular around the lake Karihani.
Reunion: Species present on the east coast and south of the island at low altitude. It is a parasite of many spontaneous species (Ipomoea pes-caprae, Sida rhombifolia subsp. Alnifolia, Teramnus labialis, Thunbergia laevis, Bidens pilosa) and many crops (eggplant, carrot, thyme, tomato).
Seychelles: Species present but not abundant.

Algeria : Cuscuta campestris is a species introduced in the north of the country at the beginning of the 21st century. It is very polyphagous, being able to parasitize up to 112 plant species, mainly Eu-Dicotyledons, both weeds (Xanthium spp., Amaranthus spp., Atriplex spp., in particular) and cultivated ones, mainly forage legumes, but also beet, carrot, tomato, potato, eggplant, onion, zucchini, lentil, chickpea, vine, citrus, etc. It can be spread both by seeds and stem fragments. Livestock that have consumed infested forage, farm equipment, and contaminated soil are sources of contamination.

Local harmfulness
 
Madagascar: Cuscuta campestris is a hemiparasite weed, infrequent and not abundant in crops and gardens. Once installed, it is difficult to get rid of this parasitic weed which has a high seed production.
Mauritius: C. campestris is a rarely found weed in sugar cane fields or vegetables. It has low to medium harmfulness if present in large numbers.
Reunion: This species occurs in only 6% of cultivated land, mainly sugar cane. In this culture, it can form large mass. When cane closes, it tends to disappear, but some can persist without growing in the shade of the stem and restart after cutting.
Seychelles: absent.
South Africa: Cuscuta campestris smothers and parasitises other plants of economic importance in farmland, particularly alfalfa.

Local harmfulness

Algeria: Cuscuta campestris is a major "weed" in weed and fodder crops. Its harmfulness can go up to yield losses of more than 70%.

Local control

Algeria: In recently infested plots, systematic uprooting and then careful burning of infested plants can overcome the pest. The first measure to be recommended for previously infested plots is crop rotation so that susceptible crops only return every 10 years. Nevertheless, two years of cereals (non-host plants) are sufficient to significantly reduce the seed stock in the soil seed bank and thus reduce the pressure of the pest. For greenhouse crops, solarization, a destocking technique, gives excellent results. The nature of the link between the parasite and the host plant is such that it requires the use of a highly selective herbicide that does not produce collateral damage.
In Algeria, some glyphosate-based anti-cutting herbicides at very low rates (75 to 100 g active ingredient/ha) are marketed. This treatment also destroys the sucklers, preventing any possible regeneration of the pest. The destruction of dodder seedlings before their fixation on the host plant is easily achieved by repeated treatments with certain germination inhibitors such as chlorpropham, but this treatment is unfortunately expensive. The bioherbicide Smoulder® has as active ingredient the pathogenic fungus of the different species of dodder plants Alternaria destruens L. Simmons strain 059 produced and registered by Loveland Products Inc, Greely CO and Sylvan Bio Inc, Kittanning, P.A. This bioherbicide, not yet homolgated in Algeria, is packaged in powder form (Smoulder G) and in wettable powder form (Smoulder WP).

Herbarium pictures ReCOLNAT: https://explore.recolnat.org/search/botanique/simplequery=Cuscuta%2520campestris