Witnessed by: Unani

Dodder (Cuscuta epithymum), of the Convolvulaceae family. Leafless rootless twining parasite, a tangle of threadlike reddish stems fastened to its host by suckers, with clusters of small pale flowers; native range: Europe, the Mediterranean, western and central Asia; the drug of commerce chiefly from Iran and Turkey, and famously that grown on Cretan thyme. Globally recognized as aftimun in Arabic, aftimun in Persian, aftimoon in Urdu, and lesser dodder, thyme dodder, hellweed in English. The part used is the whole parasitic plant with its flowers and seed. A mass of fine wiry reddish-brown threads, brittle when dry, tangled with tiny globular flower-heads; the taste bitter and saltish.

In this cross-tradition database, we analyze how this substance operates across world medicine systems — tracking its traditional tastes, temperatures, tissue affinities, post-digestive effects, and planetary correspondences across Ayurveda, Unani, and Western herbalism.

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