Cuscuta

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Noun

Cuscuta - genus of twining leafless parasitic herbs lacking chlorophyll: dodder

dicot genus, magnoliopsid genus - genus of flowering plants having two cotyledons (embryonic leaves) in the seed which usually appear at germination

Convolvulaceae, family Convolvulaceae, morning-glory family - morning glory; bindweed; sweet potato; plants having trumpet-shaped flowers and a climbing or twining habit

dodder - a leafless annual parasitic vine of the genus Cuscuta having whitish or yellow filamentous stems; obtain nourishment through haustoria

Cuscuta gronovii, love vine - leafless parasitic vine with dense clusters of small white bell-shaped flowers on orange-yellow stems that twine around clover or flax

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References in periodicals archive ?

Dodder's many other names include love vine, knot weed, strangleweed, stranglevine, angel's hair, goldthread, devil's ringlet, hell-bind, hairweed, devil's hair, hailweed and witches' shoelaces.The weed builds a canopy on the host tree or plant and casts thousands of tendrils to form a dense spectacle before it strangles it to death.

The invasive plant giving farmers sleepless nights

2 Strangling suspects Also known as strangleweed, devil's guts, witches' shoelaces and devil's ringlet but better known as dodder (Cuscuta), this pernicious relative of bindweed twines itself round a host plant and inserts itself into the host's vascular system - sucking out everything it needs to live and killing its plant victim.

10 spooky plants and garden ghouls; Getting in the Halloween spirit? Hannah Stephenson reveals some of the foul and creepy specimens that could be lurking in your hedges and borders..

Its most distinctive trait is its threadlike stem, which has given rise to some of its common names: hairweed, lady's laces, wizard's net, goldthread, angel hair, witches' hair, devil's hair, pull-down, strangleweed, and my favorite: devil's guts.