50 



FIG. 20. 



DODDER, CLOVER DODDER, DEVIL'S GUT, OR STRANGLE WEED. 

 Cuscuta epithymum (Murr). 



Judging from the number of enquiries made about Dodder, we fear 

 that it'is spreading rapidly in the Province of Ontario. 



The seed takes root in the soil and puts forth a shoot which winds 

 around some living plant. Having a good start, the shoot disconnects 

 itself from the earth and derives its nourishment from the juices of the 

 plant to which it clings. Drummond says : " There are certain plants 

 the Dodder for instance which begin life with the best intentions, 

 strike true roots into the soil, and really appear as if they meant to be 

 independent for life. But after supporting themselves for a brief period, 

 they fix curious sucking discs into the stem (Fig. 20, (3)) and branches of 

 adjacent plants, and, after a little experimenting, finally cease to do any- 

 thing for their own support, thenceforth drawing all their supplies ready 

 made from the sap of their host. In this parasitic state the Dodder has 

 no need for organs of nutrition of its own, and Nature therefore takes 

 them away. Henceforth, to the botanist, it presents the degraded spec- 

 tacle of a plant without a root, without a twig, without a leaf, and hav- 

 ing a stem so useless as to be inadequate to bear its own weight." 



The stems are very slender and red in color, curling around clover 

 or grass and completely choking it, as well as appropriating its juices. 

 It puts forth dense clusters of small whitish flowers, which are succeeded 

 by rounded pods, full of seeds. The seeds are small, grey, or yellowish 

 brown and round in shape. An average plant produces about 2,500 

 seeds. There are numerous species of dodder, parasitic on flax, onions, 

 and a variety of other herbs and small shrubs. 



Time of flowering, June- July. 



Time of seeding, July -September. 



Dispersal often as an impurity in clover and lucerne seed. 



Eradication. Guard carefully against it in clover and other seeds. 

 Cut before ripening, as near the ground as possible, collect, and burn 

 and modif v the rotation so as to leave clover out for a time. 



