Cuscuta californica
Encyclopedia
Cuscuta californica is a species of dodder
known by the common names Chaparral dodder and California dodder. It is native to western North America.
which climbs other plants and takes nutrition directly from them via a haustorium
. The dodder resembles a pile of yellow-orange straw wrapped tightly around its host plant. It is mostly stem; the leaves are reduced to scales on the stem's surface, since they are not needed for photosynthesis while the dodder is obtaining nutrients from its host. It bears tiny white flowers which are only about 3 millimeters wide, and fruits which are even smaller.
plant communities, and can be found in weedy, partially developed areas. Like most other dodders, this species is considered a noxious weed in many areas.
Cuscuta
Cuscuta is a genus of about 100-170 species of yellow, orange or red 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 morning glory family, Convolvulaceae...
known by the common names Chaparral dodder and California dodder. It is native to western North America.
Description
Cuscuta californica is a parasitic vineParasitic plant
A parasitic plant is one that derives some or all of its sustenance from another plant. About 4,100 species in approximately 19 families of flowering plants are known. Parasitic plants have a modified root, the haustorium, that penetrates the host plant and connects to the xylem, phloem, or...
which climbs other plants and takes nutrition directly from them via a haustorium
Haustorium
In botany, a haustorium is the appendage or portion of a parasitic fungus or of the root of a parasitic plant that penetrates the host's tissue and draws nutrients from it. Haustoria do not penetrate the host's cell membranes.Fungi in all major divisions form haustoria...
. The dodder resembles a pile of yellow-orange straw wrapped tightly around its host plant. It is mostly stem; the leaves are reduced to scales on the stem's surface, since they are not needed for photosynthesis while the dodder is obtaining nutrients from its host. It bears tiny white flowers which are only about 3 millimeters wide, and fruits which are even smaller.
Habitat
This is a member of grassland and chaparralChaparral
Chaparral is a shrubland or heathland plant community found primarily in the U.S. state of California and in the northern portion of the Baja California peninsula, Mexico...
plant communities, and can be found in weedy, partially developed areas. Like most other dodders, this species is considered a noxious weed in many areas.