? Cuscuta
Cuscuta europaea on Sambucus ebulus
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae Division: Magnoliophyta Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Solanales Family: Convolvulaceae Genus: Cuscuta L.
Species
About 100 species, including: Cuscuta americana Cuscuta applanata Cuscuta approximata Cuscuta attenuata Cuscuta boldinghii Cuscuta brachycalyx Cuscuta californica Cuscuta campestris Cuscuta cassytoides Cuscuta ceanothi Cuscuta cephalanthi Cuscuta compacta Cuscuta coryli Cuscuta corylii Cuscuta cuspidata Cuscuta decipiens Cuscuta dentatasquamata Cuscuta denticulata Cuscuta epilinum Cuscuta epithymum Cuscuta erosa Cuscuta europaea Cuscuta exaltata Cuscuta fasciculata Cuscuta globulosa Cuscuta glomerata Cuscuta gronovii Cuscuta harperi Cuscuta howelliana Cuscuta indecora Cuscuta indesora Cuscuta japonica Cuscuta jepsoni Cuscuta leptantha Cuscuta lupuliformis Cuscuta megalocarpa Cuscuta mitriformis Cuscuta obtusiflora Cuscuta odontolepis Cuscuta pentagona Cuscuta plattensis Cuscuta polygonorum Cuscuta potosina Cuscuta potosona Cuscuta reflexa Cuscuta rostrata Cuscuta runyonii Cuscuta salina Cuscuta sandwichiana Cuscuta squamata Cuscuta suaveolens Cuscuta suksdorfii Cuscuta tuberculata Cuscuta umbellata Cuscuta vivipara Cuscuta warneri Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1536x952, 730 KB) Cuscuta europaea ro: torÅ£el File links The following pages link to this file: Cuscuta Greater Dodder ... Binomial name Sambucus ebulus L. Danewort (Sambucus ebulus), also known as Dwarf Elder or European Dwarf Elder, is a herbaceous species of elder, native to southern and central Europe and southwest Asia. ... Scientific classification or biological classification is how biologists group and categorize extinct and living species of organisms. ... Divisions Land plants (embryophytes) Non-vascular plants (bryophytes) Hepatophyta - liverworts Anthocerophyta - hornworts Bryophyta - mosses Vascular plants (tracheophytes) Lycopodiophyta - clubmosses Equisetophyta - horsetails Pteridophyta - true ferns Psilotophyta - whisk ferns Ophioglossophyta - adderstongues Seed plants (spermatophytes) †Pteridospermatophyta - seed ferns Pinophyta - conifers Cycadophyta - cycads Ginkgophyta - ginkgo Gnetophyta - gnetae Magnoliophyta - flowering plants Adiantum pedatum (a fern... Classes Magnoliopsida - Dicots Liliopsida - Monocots The flowering plants (also angiosperms or Magnoliophyta) are one of the major groups of modern plants, comprising those that produce seeds in specialized reproductive organs called flowers, where the ovulary or carpel is enclosed. ... Orders see text Dicotyledons or dicots are flowering plants whose seed contains two embryonic leaves or cotyledons. ... Families at least the following: Solanaceae Convolvulaceae and others, varying between classification systems; for details see text The Solanales are an order of flowering plants, included in the asterid group of dicotyledons. ... Genera See text The Convolvulaceae, the bindweed or morning glory family, is a group of about 60 genera and more than 1,650 species of mostly herbaceous vines, but also trees, shrubs and herbs. ... A painting of Carolus Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus, also known after his ennoblement as Carl von Linné (   listen?), and who wrote under the Latinized name Carolus Linnaeus (May 23, 1707 – January 10, 1778), was a Swedish botanist who laid the foundations for the modern scheme of taxonomy. ... Sambucus infested with Cuscuta europaea Cuscuta flower The Greater Dodder (Cuscuta europaea) is a parasite plant native to Europe, which belongs to the Convolvulaceae family, but was formerly classified in the Cuscutaceae family. ...

Basics

Cuscuta (Dodder) is a genus of about 100 species of yellow, orange or red (rarely green) parasitic plants. Formerly treated as the only genus in the family Cuscutaceae, recent genetic research by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group has shown that it is correctly placed in the family Convolvulaceae. The genus is found throughout the temperate to tropical regions of the world, with the greatest species diversity in subtropical and tropical regions; the genus becomes rare in cool temperate climates, with e.g. only four species native to northern Europe. A parasite is an organism that lives in or on the living tissue of a host organism at the expense of it. ... The Angiosperm Phylogeny Group is an international group of systematic botanists who have come together to try to establish a consensus view of the taxonomy of flowering plants in the light of the rapid rise of molecular systematics. ... Genera See text The Convolvulaceae, the bindweed or morning glory family, is a group of about 60 genera and more than 1,650 species of mostly herbaceous vines, but also trees, shrubs and herbs. ... World map showing location of Europe Europe is geologically and geographically a peninsula, forming the westernmost part of Eurasia. ...

Dodder can be identified by its thin stems appearing leafless, with the leaves reduced to minute scales. It almost completely lacks chlorophyll and is unable to photosynthesize effectively, being entirely dependent on the host plants for nutrition. In botany, a leaf is an above-ground plant organ specialized for photosynthesis. ... Chlorophyll is a green photosynthetic pigment found in plants, algae, and cyanobacteria. ...

Cuscuta europaea in flower

Dodder flowers range in color from white to pink to yellow to cream. Some flower in the early summer, others later, depending on the species. The seeds are minute and produced in large quantities. They have a hard seed coating, and can survive in the soil for 5-10 years or more. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (768x1024, 257 KB) File links The following pages link to this file: Cuscuta Greater Dodder ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (768x1024, 257 KB) File links The following pages link to this file: Cuscuta Greater Dodder ... Wildflowers A flower is the reproductive organ of those plants classified as angiosperms (flowering plants; Division Magnoliophyta). ... A seed is the ripened ovule of gymnosperm or angiosperm plants. ...

Dodder seeds sprout at or near the surface of the soil. While dodder germination can occur without a host, it has to reach a green plant quickly; the young stem grows towards green light transmitted through nearby leaves. If a plant is not reached within 5 to 10 days of germination, the dodder seedling will die. Before a host plant is reached, the dodder, as other plants, relies on the cotyledons for food. In a botanical sense, germination is the process of emergence of growth from a resting stage. ... For the genus of Crassulaceae, see Cotyledon. ...

After dodder attaches itself to a plant, it wraps itself around it. If the host contains food beneficial to dodder, the dodder produces haustoria that insert themselves into the vascular system of the host. The original root of the dodder in the soil then dies. The dodder can grow and attach itself to multiple plants. In tropical areas it can grow more or less continuously, and may reach high into the canopy of shrubs and trees; in temperate regions it is an annual plant and is restricted to relatively low vegetation that can be reached by new seedlings each spring. Haustorium, plural Haustoria, is the hyphal tip of a parasitic fungus that penetrates the hosts tissue, but stays outside the host cell membrane. ... An annual is a plant that usually germinates, flowers and dies in one year. ...

Dodder is parasitic on a very wide variety of plants, including a number of agricultural and horticultural crop species, such as alfalfa, lespedeza, flax, clover, potatoes, chrysanthemum, dahlia, helenium, trumpet vine, ivy and petunias, among others. Species Medicago arabica Medicago heldreichii Medicago hybrida Medicago laciniata Medicago littoralis Medicago lupulina Medicago minima Medicago monantha Medicago monspeliaca Medicago orbicularis Medicago polymorpha Medicago praecox Medicago rigidula Medicago rugosa Medicago ruthenica Medicago sativa Medicago scutellata Medicago secundiflora Medicago truncatula Medicago turbinata Ref: ITIS 183622 as of 2002-07-31 Alfalfa... in addition, it is an invasive plant species, which is killing the other prairie plants in areas such as GReat Falls in Maryland Species Lespedeza angustifolia Lespedeza bicolor Lespedeza buergeri Lespedeza capitata Lespedeza chinensis Lespedeza cyrtobotrya Lespedeza cyrtobuergeri Lespedeza davidii Lespedeza davurica Lespedeza hirta Lespedeza homoloba Lespedeza intermedia Lespedeza intermixta... Binomial name Linum usitatissimum Linnaeus. ... Species See text Clover (Trifolium) is a genus of about 300 species of plants in the pea family Fabaceae. ... Binomial name Solanum tuberosum L. The potato (Solanum tuberosum) is a perennial plant of the Solanaceae, or nightshade, family, grown for its starchy tuber. ... Species - tricolor daisy - pyrethrum - pyrethum daisy - crown daisy - marguerite - daisy - florists           chrysanthemum C. segetum - corndaisy Ref: ITIS 35791 See also Daisy (disambiguation) The chrysanthemum, also known as the mum, is a flowering perennial plant of the genus Chrysanthemum in the daisy family (Asteraceae). ... Species 30 species, 20,000 cultivars Dahlia is a genus of bushy, summer- and autumn-flowering, tuberous perennials that are originally from Mexico, where they are the national flower. ... Binomial name Campsis radicans Seem. ... Species See text Hedera (English name ivy (plural, ivies) is a genus of about 10 species of climbing or ground-creeping evergreen woody plants in the family Araliaceae, native to the Atlantic Islands, Europe, North Africa and across Asia east to Japan. ... Purple Petunias Petunia is a widely-cultivated genus of flowering plants, in the Solanaceae family. ...

This dodder is engulfing a sage in the Mojave Desert.

Dodder ranges in severity based on its species and the species of the host, the time of attack, and whether any viruses are also present in the host plant. By debilitating the host plant, dodder decreases the ability of plants to resist virus diseases, and dodder can also spread plant diseases from one host to another if it is attached to more than one plant. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1800x1443, 748 KB) Photo of Cuscuta species on a sage in Chicago Valley, California, taken March 2005 by User:Stan Shebs (The several Mojave Desert species can only be distinguished by their flowers. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1800x1443, 748 KB) Photo of Cuscuta species on a sage in Chicago Valley, California, taken March 2005 by User:Stan Shebs (The several Mojave Desert species can only be distinguished by their flowers. ...

Prevention and treatment

Many nations have laws prohibiting import of dodder seed, requiring crop seeds to be free of dodder seed contamination. Before planting, all clothes should be inspected for dodder seed when moving from an infested area to a non-infested crop. When dealing with an infested area, swift action is necessary. Recommendations include planting a non-host crop for several years after the infestation, pulling up host crops immediately, particularly before the dodder produces seed, and use of preemergent herbicides like Dacthal in the spring. Examples of non-host crops include grasses and many other monocotyledons. If dodder is found before it chokes a host plant, simply remove the dodder from the soil. If not, make sure to prune the plants significantly lower than the dodder, because dodder is versatile and can grow back if present from haustoria. For publications of this name, see also Nation (disambiguation) The most popular modern ethical and philosophical doctrines state that all humans are divided into groups called nations. ... A herbicide is a pesticide used to kill unwanted plants. ... Genera See: List of Poaceae genera The true grasses are monocot (class Liliopsida) plants of the family Poaceae (formerly Graminae). ... Orders Base Monocots: Acorus Alismatales Asparagales Dioscoreales Liliales Pandanales Family Petrosaviaceae Commelinids: Arecales Commelinales Poales Zingiberales Family Dasypogonaceae Monocotyledons or monocots are a group of flowering plants usually ranked as a class and once called the Monocotyledoneae. ...

Alternative Names

Love vine, strangleweed, devil's guts, goldthread, pull-down, devil's ringlet, hellbine, hairweed, devil's hair, hailweed.

References and external links

Wikimedia Commons has more media related to:

Cuscuta

• Lanini, W. T., et. al. Dodder. Pest Notes Jan 2002: 1-3. 15 Jul 2005. Online (pdf file).
• Swift, C. E. Cuscuta and Grammica species - Dodder: A Plant Parasite. Colorado State University Cooperative Extention. Online.
• Dodder (Cuscuta species). Weed Listings. 2005. Online.
• Medicinal uses of Cuscuta in Armenia