View source for Dodder

{{taxobox
|image = Cuscuta europaea bgiu.jpg
|image_caption = Dodder on a Danewort
|regnum = [[Plantae]]
|unranked_divisio = [[Angiosperms]]
|unranked_classis = [[Eudicots]]
|unranked_ordo = [[Asterids]]
|ordo = [[Solanales]]
|familia = [[Convolvulaceae]]
|genus = '''''Cuscuta'''''
|genus_authority = [[Carolus Linnaeus|L.]]
|subdivision_ranks = Species
|subdivision = about 100–170 species
}}

The '''Dodder''', '''''Cuscuta''''', is a [[genus]] of about 100–170 [[species]] of [[parasitic]] [[flowering plant]]s. 

Recent [[genetics|genetic]] research has shown that it is correctly placed in the [[morning glory]] family, [[Convolvulaceae]]. 

The genus is found throughout the [[temperate]] and [[tropical]] regions of the world. Most species live in [[subtropical]] and [[tropical]] regions. The genus is rare in cool temperate climates, with only four species native to northern [[Europe]].
== Appearance ==
Dodder can be identified by its thin stems. They look leafless, with the [[leaf|leaves]] reduced to minute scales. 

From mid-summer to early autumn, the vines can produce small fruit that take the same color as the vine, and are about the size of a common pea.  It has very low levels of [[chlorophyll]]; some species, such as ''Cuscuta reflexa'', can [[photosynthesis|photosynthesize]] slightly. Others such as ''C. europaea'' are entirely dependent on the host plants for nutrition.<ref>Machado M.A. & Zetsche K. 1990. A structural, functional and molecular analysis of plastids of the holoparasites ''Cuscuta reflexa'' and ''Cuscuta europaea''. ''Planta'' 181: 91–96.</ref> 

[[File:Cuscuta europaea (on Urtica dioica).jpg|left|thumb|''Cuscuta europaea'' in flower]]

Dodder [[flower]]s range in color from white to pink to yellow to cream. Some flower in the early summer, others later, depending on the species. The [[seed]]s are tiny, and produced in large amounts. They have a hard coating, and can survive in the soil for 5–10 years or more.
== Life habit ==
Dodder seeds sprout at or near the surface of the [[soil]].  [[Germination]] occurs without a host, but the [[seedling]] must reach a green plant quickly. Dodder grows toward the smell of nearby plants.<ref name="The Why Files: Fatal floral bouquet">{{Cite web |url=http://whyfiles.org/shorties/216plants_smell/ |title=The Why Files {{!}} Fatal floral bouquet |access-date=2010-06-22 |publisher=University of Wisconsin, Board of Regents |year=2006 |author=David Tenenbaum |archive-date=2008-11-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081120225518/http://whyfiles.org/shorties/216plants_smell/ |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name=npr>{{cite news |title= Devious Dodder vine sniffs out its victims |url= https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6160709 |quote= Some flowers release a pleasing fragrance. Other plants smell. And then there's the parasitic dodder vine, which has the remarkable ability to sniff out its victims. Farmers have placed the dodder  on a ten most-wanted list of weeds. |publisher=[[National Public Radio]] |access-date= 2007-07-21 }}</ref> 

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 food reserves in the [[embryo]]; the [[cotyledon]]s<ref>The first leaves, which are stored in the seed</ref> are very small.<ref>Macpherson, G.E. (1921) Comparison of development in dodder and morning glory. ''Botanical Gazette'' 71: 392–398.</ref>
[[File:Cuscuta parasite plant.JPG|thumb|200px|left|''Cuscuta'' on acacia tree in [[Punjab (Pakistan)|Punjab]], Pakistan]]
== Parasitism ==
After a dodder attaches itself to a plant, it wraps itself around it. If the host contains food useful to dodder, the dodder produces '[[haustoria]]' that insert themselves into 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 continuously, and may reach high into the canopy of [[shrub]]s and [[tree]]s. In [[temperate]] climates it is an [[annual plant]], restricted to low vegetation that can be reached by new [[seedling]]s each spring.

Dodder is parasitic on a very wide variety of plants, including a number of agricultural and horticultural crop species, such as [[alfalfa]], [[flax]], [[clover]], [[potato]]es, [[chrysanthemum]], [[dahlia]], [[trumpet vine]], [[ivy]] and [[petunia]]s, among others.

== Dodder Media ==
<gallery widths='160px' heights='100%' mode='traditional' caption=''>
File:Cuscuta in Iran II.jpg|Cuscuta in Iran II

File:Cuscuta on creeper plant.jpg|Cuscuta on creeper plant, Kolkata, West Bengal, India

File:Cuscuta europaea 2005.06.12 15.07.24.jpg|''[[Cuscuta europaea]]'' in flower

File:Cuscuta in Flower, Iran.jpg|Cuscuta in Flower, [[Iran]]

File:Dodder Forming a Net on its Host.jpg|Dodder forming a net on its host

File:Cuscuta on Ziziphus mauritiana Tree in Punjab, India.jpg|Cuscuta on a [[Ziziphus mauritiana|Chinese date]] tree in [[Punjab, India]]

File:Cuscuta sp on sage.jpg|''Cuscuta'' on sage in the [[Mojave Desert]]

File:Dodder (Cuscuta) fruit.jpg|''Cuscuta'' sp. with a gall
</gallery>
== References ==
{{commonscat|Cuscuta}}
{{wikispecies|Cuscuta}}
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:Convolvulaceae]]
[[Category:Parasitic plants]]