PlantFiles: Giant Dodder
Cuscuta reflexa

U.S. FEDERALLY LISTED NOXIOUS WEED.
Not allowed for import to the US and not allowed in any interstate or intrastate transportation without a specific permit from USDA APHIS PPQ (Plant Protection and Quarantine).
No one should be selling/growing this plant in the U.S.

Cuscuta reflexa is parasitic plant whose dependence on a host plant for carbon and nutrients means that its own photosynthetic capacity has been partially, but not fully, disposed of. We have discovered that the remaining photosynthetic apparatus in this species is fully functional, but its composition differs from that previously considered ubiquitous among higher plants and crucial to photosynthetic function. This genus provides a rare opportunity to study a species at an evolutionary watershed between photosynthetic to non-photosynthetic life-forms.

This has been declared a noxious weed in many countries. Dodder is a parasite plant that has only scale-like leaves. Seeds germinate and grow a stem that can be varying colors: red, yellow, orange or green. When a host plant is encountered, it grows haustoria, specialized organs that penetrate the host. The stem attaching to the ground soon rots away, leaving the stems to continue to grow on the host.

Giant dodder can cover up to 15 square feet on a host. Removing giant dodder usually means removing the host, as haustoria left in the host will re-sprout. Seed is formed and can remain viable for years.

If no suitable host plant is found by the seedling, it will die within a few weeks.