CONVOLVULACEAE CONVOLVULUS FAMILY 
COMMON DODDER. LOVE VINE 
Cuscuta Gronovii Willd. 
The Dodders, several kinds of which are in Illinois, are 
familiar examples of parasitic seed plants. They twine and feed 
on other plants and lack chlorophyll, being yellowish instead. 
Their seeds germinate on 
soil, usually rather late in spring 
after other vegetation has 
sprouted and young shoots of 
host plants are thus available. 
The young shoot of a Dodder is 
a fine yellow threadlike struc- 
ture whose tip rotates as it 
elongates. If it fails to contact 
a host it lives but a few weeks at 
most. However, if it finds a suit- 
able host it grows vigorously, 
twining about the host and at 
the same time penetrating it 
with absorbing organs that really 
are modified roots. Soon the 
Dodder loses all connection with 
the soil and becomes purely a 
parasite. 
Some Dodders may grow on 
various hosts, while others are \ 
restricted to a certain kind. In | 
Europe they are destructive to € 
crops such as Clover and Flax, . 
and in America probably less so. 
In the southern third of Illinois Dodders are a common pest 
on Clover. 
The Common Dodder or Love Vine grows on various kinds of 
herbs and low shrubs from Nova Scotia to Manitoba and south 
to Florida and Texas. 
It blooms in July and August. Calyx and corolla are 5-lobed 
and on the inside of the corolla are 5 toothed scales. There are 
5 stamens and a pistil with a 2-celled ovary and 2 styles. The 
fruit is a small whitish capsule containing 1-4 seeds. 
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