Desert dodder

Cuscuta denticulata

''Cuscuta denticulata'', commnly known as desert dodder or small-toothed dodder, is a thin, yellow to orange, parasitic annual vine in the morning glory family , native to the deserts of the south-western United States and northern Mexico.
Dodder Dodder is a true obligate parasite: the host plant receives no benefit from the dodder and dodder must have a host plant to survive. Dodder appears leafless (it does have small scales) and lacks sufficient chlorophyll to produce any significant amount of its own food. It attaches to a host plant with small, root-like appendages called haustoria which allow it to extract carbohydrates, water, and nutrients. It is usually a golden color, but can also be tinged with red or purple. Cuscuta denticulata,Geotagged,United States

Habitat

It grows up to 4,000 feet in the Mojave Desert and Sonoran Desert into Baja California. It parasitizes plants of the creosote bush scrub and Joshua tree woodland communities, such as creosote bush and cheesebush.

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Taxonomy
KingdomPlantae
DivisionAngiosperms
ClassEudicots
OrderSolanales
FamilyConvolvulaceae
GenusCuscuta
SpeciesC. denticulata
Photographed in
United States of America