Just Now

Someone hitting the dunes with silly string?

Is that a big tangle of fishing line?

That's not Silly String-it's Dodder!

Lacking the ability to produce chlorophyll, and therefore its own food, dodder sinks its “fangs” (called haustoria) into its victim and draws nutrients and water from it. Depending on the health and vigor of the host plant, it will weaken and possibly die.

Dodder produces many small white flowers in clusters along the length of its wiry stems. These flowers develop into hard-coated seeds. Each dodder plant can produce thousands of seeds in a season, which drop to the ground waiting to sprout the following season. The seeds have with the potential to be dormant but viable in the soil for up to 20 years. (yikes-they’re mummies too!)

When the seed germinates it has a few days to find a suitable host or it will die, as it is unable to produce food of its own. When it does contact a host, it sinks its fangs…er, haustoria in and loses its connection to the soil, living completely on the host.