Scientific name: Cuscuta epithymum (L.) L.
Common name: Dodder
Description
Habit: A rootless, parasitic annual; attaches itself to the host plant by suckers.
Stems: Red or yellowish, twining, thin and wiry, lacking hairs and chlorophyll.
Leaves: Reduced to minute scale-like leaves.
Flowers: Actinomorphic, 2-3 mm across, in small, dense and spherical heads, scattered along the stem; calyx and corolla funnel shaped, of 4-5 fused and deeply lobed petals; stamens 4-5, attached to the corolla; anthers pink; styles 2; ovary superior; there is variation of numbers of floral parts, even on the same plant.
Fruits: A 4-seeded capsule.
Habitat: Stabilised sand-dunes; parasitic mainly on Thymus praecox, Lotus corniculatus, Galium verum, Asperula cynanchica and few other species.
Distribution: Locally abundant.
Native status: Native
Of conservation interest: No