A creepy plant

Posted by Paul Decelles August 2, 2009 at 6:51 p.m.

Today I went out to Baker wetlands to take pictures and found this totally creepy plant-Dodder. This is a parasitic plant that no longer has chlorophyll. Instead it gets its food by absorbing it from other plants. I had never seen this plant before so I was excited. At any rate the plant can be a nuisance, so I notified Dr. Boyd about this. However the Baker Wetland plant list lists three species of Dodder for the wetlands, so its not the first time Dodder has been in the wetlands.

When Dodder germinates, the young plant has around 5 days to find a host plant. The young plant is able to sense chemicals given off by other plants and will grow towards them.

Here's a video showing the germinating dodder seeking out a tomato plant:

Of course other plants detect and respond to airborne chemicals. In fact, a commonly used plant in genetics, Arabidopsis, has been genetically engineered to detect explosives used in land minds. The idea is to help clear land of left over land minds.

References

Host finding by Dodder: Science 29 September 2006: Vol. 313. no. 5795, pp. 1964 - 1967 http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/313/5795/1964

Genetically Engineered plants for detecting land mines: http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/12/magazine/12LAND.html

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SandCoAlmanac (anonymous) says…

Paul -- Good stuff! Two questions: 1) Do you also have a reference for the plant list for Baker Wetlands? and 2) Does Dodder respond to ethylene or ..... what pheromone? Good photography (again) !!
August 2, 2009 at 8:49 p.m.
liggyon (David Lignell) says…

"This is a parasitic plant that no longer has chlorophyll. Instead it gets its food by absorbing it from other plants."

I think it was inspired by my inlaws, at least in terms of sucking the living life out of a host.
August 2, 2009 at 9:10 p.m.
SandCoAlmanac (anonymous) says…

Paul -- Nevermind. I should have searched before I posted my questions. I found a plant list of Baker Wetlands where I should have looked in the first place: http://www.bakeru.edu/faculty/rboyd/w...

I'm still looking for a reference for the molecules it senses. I thought it might also be thigmatropic, like bindweed or morning glory, but maybe not. Just guessing.
By the way, is that some froghopper spittle on the plant behind the Dodder? Thanks again, Paul!
August 2, 2009 at 9:55 p.m.
pdecell (Paul Decelles) says…

Sand, yes it is a froghopper spittle. I thought it was a nice illustration of several species interacting. As for the molecules dodder senses...I am not sure if that is known yet.

I am guessing that what you see in my pictures is thigmatropism, but in the germinating dodder I bet you have chemotropism and thigmatropism.

Also that is the plant ref...which I had not seen before. I will be interested to see what Dr. Boyd says about the dodder.
August 2, 2009 at 10:25 p.m.
liggyon (David Lignell) says…

Mulit,

My inlaws live in Michigan, and know little of Kansas beyond Oz. Pretty sure they've never heard of the LJW...so I'm more coward than bahookie :-)
August 3, 2009 at 6:47 a.m.
justbegintowrite (Ronda Miller) says…

I am tracking everything DavidL says at this point. I figured he would mistakenly think, "the cactus painting that dominates the antebellum view of the Savannah River on Ronda Miller's sweeping veranda". (freak!) I can relate to a germinating dodder. I think I am going out with one - reasoning is TIN.
August 3, 2009 at 10:07 a.m.
Irish (Leslie Swearingen) says…

I don't find it creepy at all and I think it should be left alone. I thought that was one of the purposes of the Baker Wetlands, to let things grow as they will.
Symbiotic relationships are the norm on planet Earth.
August 3, 2009 at 10:37 a.m.
justbegintowrite (Ronda Miller) says…

You ain't see the pine beetle, Irish. Doesn't seem to be anything symbiotic in that relationship. :)
August 3, 2009 at 12:08 p.m.
liggyon (David Lignell) says…

Plenty of pine beetles on Ronda's sweeping, antebellum veranda!
August 3, 2009 at 12:26 p.m.
DougCounty (anonymous) says…

Dodder's been around quite a while in these parts--seems to take over in small patches but then kinda finds a balance of sorts and never really gets out of control, unlike other plants I can think of, like musk thistle, sericea lezpedeza, crown vetch, and teasel.
August 3, 2009 at 4:03 p.m.
justbegintowrite (Ronda Miller) says…

Help, I am apparently being infested with pine beetles. Someone take a swatter to me...please! :) ;) ;)
August 4, 2009 at 11:52 a.m.
snap_pop_no_crackle (anonymous) says…

Triffids are right around the corner!
August 4, 2009 at 12:03 p.m.