Golden dodder
Cuscuta campestris
family
Convolvulaceae
origin
Exotic
declaration
NIL
For information only
Common names
Angel's hair, Beggar vine, Field dodder, Love vine, Strangle vine, Strangle weed.
A distinctive yellow, golden or orange coloured parasitic plant. Its short-lived leafless climbing stems are hairless thread-like. These stems produce small suckers which penetrate the host plant's stems or leaves. Its small flowers (2-4 mm long) are cream to white in colour with five pointed petals. They are borne in small dense clusters containing about five flowers. Its small globular capsules (3-4 mm across) contain up to four seeds.
Impact
Impact
Golden dodder (Cuscuta campestris) is a parasitic plant that is largely known as a pest of crops, particularly of plants belonging to the daisy family (i.e. Asteraceae). However, it also attacks a wide range of naturalised species and native plants that are growing in grasslands, open woodlands, coastal vine thickets, riparian areas and wetlands. It causes damage by absorbing food material from the host plant, but the dense mat of stems it produces can also cause shading of the ground vegetation layer. This species is a minor environmental weed in south-eastern Queensland. Golden dodder (Cuscuta campestris) is also regarded as an environmental weed in some parts of Western Australia, New South Wales and Victoria. It is of most concern in inland wetland areas in these states. For example, it is frequently seen growing along Willandra Creek and its lagoons in Willandra National Park in the Riverina region of southern New South Wales.
Location
Location
Characteristics
Characteristics
Similar Species
Similar Species
Golden dodder (Cuscuta campestris) is a parasitic plant that is largely known as a pest of crops, particularly of plants belonging to the daisy family (i.e. Asteraceae). However, it also attacks a wide range of naturalised species and native plants that are growing in grasslands, open woodlands, coastal vine thickets, riparian areas and wetlands. It causes damage by absorbing food material from the host plant, but the dense mat of stems it produces can also cause shading of the ground vegetation layer. This species is a minor environmental weed in south-eastern Queensland. Golden dodder (Cuscuta campestris) is also regarded as an environmental weed in some parts of Western Australia, New South Wales and Victoria. It is of most concern in inland wetland areas in these states. For example, it is frequently seen growing along Willandra Creek and its lagoons in Willandra National Park in the Riverina region of southern New South Wales.
