Carnivorous plants are rare, but like the man who bit the dog, they get a lot of attention. Less spectacular but much more common than carnivores like the famous Venus fly trap is dodder, a plant that preys not on animals but on other plants.

Which type of plant is dodder?

Dodder, Cuscuta species, is a parasitic annual plant that infests many crops, ornamentals, native plants, and weeds.

What do dodder plants eat?

The parasites, known as dodder, but also called wizard's net, devil's hair or strangleweed, feed on other plants by attaching themselves to their hosts via a special organ, the haustorium, and withdrawing nutrients from them. They have neither roots nor leaves. Without leaves, they are hardly able to photosynthesize.