FOOD FOR PLANTS 
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whiteness is such a contrast to the black, decayed 
leaves that are its favorite home. 
Another parasite plant is the Dodder. It is 
a gold colored vine, and so is often called the 
Golden Dodder. It is really a pretty plant with 
small pink flowers. Its slender stems wind 
themselves around tall plants and bushes like 
golden threads. It sends many rootlike suckers 
into the bark to steal food. It doesn’t have a 
single leaf and not even a root after it has passed 
the seedling stage. Its little suckers look like 
roots, but they are not. They are just what their 
name says—suckers. They suck food and water 
from the other plant from which the Dodder 
is stealing its food. 
There are three common plants which grow 
in our country—the pitcher plant, sundew, and 
bladderwort—which trap their food. Their 
victims are small insects. 
The pitcher plant, which grows in bogs and 
swampy places, is a sturdy good-sized plant. Its 
leaves are shaped exactly like pitchers, except 
that there is no handle. They are often several 
The dodder does not 
even have a root 
