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Other Names: swamp dodder, field dodderScientific Name: Cuscuta spp. , including C. gronovii Willd. and C. pentagona Engelm.
Plant Family: Convolvulaceae
Botanical Description: Dodder is a parasitic plant without chlorophyll. Its is found growing on other herbaceous plants and shrubs. It obtains its nutrients by twining around a host plant and sending rootlike projections into the host stem. Swamp dodder (C. gronovii Willd. ex R. & S.) tends to be present in wetter areas and have orange or yellow stems. Field dodder (C. pentagona Engelm.) is prevalent in drier areas and has pale brown stems.Stems: smooth, stringlike, highly branched, twining around host plants, forming dense masses
Leaves: absent or reduced to small bracts
Roots:
Flowers: white with five lobes, inconspicuous, numerous flowers borne in clusters, bloom June - August
Seeds: Seed pods are about 1/8 inch diameter with thin papery walls, containing four seeds that are triangular in cross section, brown, with a rough coat.
Seedling:
Rarely becomes a major factor limiting cranberry production.
Reproduction: annualPropagation: seed
Dispersal: Often spreads from one bed to another by harvest water or cuttings for new plantings.
State: Swamp dodder is widespread in Wisconsin. Field dodder is most common in the southern third of Wisconsin.National: Field dodder is found throughout the continental U.S. with the exceptions of the most northern regions and the Pacific West. Swamp dodder is confined to the most moist climates.
Origin: native of North America
Dodder seed can lay dormant but viable in the soil for several years before germinating in the early spring (last half of May). It usually starts along cranberry bed edges and invades inward.
First evidence may be reddening of cranberry leaves in infested area. Dodder may be very difficult to control once well established. While scouting a cranberry bed for disease and insect pests, identify weed populations as they arise. Note the specie(s) of weed present as well as the population level relative to field area. Example: 40% dodder, 10% boneset and joe-pye weed mix.
Dana, M. 1987. Cranberry Weeds in Wisconsin. Department of Horticulture, University of Wisconsin-Madison. Madison, Wisconsin. p. 7.
Kummer, L. D., T. G. Dittl, and T. D. Planer. 1993. Wisconsin Cranberry Weeds. Wisconsin Cranberry Board, Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin. p. 4.
Lorenzi, H. J. and L. S. Jeffery. 1987. Weeds of the United States and Their Control. Van Nostrand Reinhold Company, New York, New York. p. 238.
McGregor, R. L. 1986. Flora of the Great Plains. University Press of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas. p. 664.
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. 1981. Weeds of the North Central States: North Central Regional Research Publication No. 281. College of Agriculture, Agricultural Experiment Station. Bulletin 772. p. 141.
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