Flowers of Cuscuta californica (Chaparral Dodder) on a Buckwheat twig, Rancho Bernardo, California. June 2019.
Cuscuta californica (Chaparral Dodder) is a parasitic vine that grows on other plants at the coast, inland valleys and in the mountains of San Diego County. It has also been observed in the desert (but chances are that it was misidentified for one of the desert-growing dodders).