What Does It Look Like?
What is it?
Golden Dodder (Cuscuta campestris) is a leafless, twining, parasitic herb forming dense mats of growth over other plants. This species is usually short-lived; however it can live for more than one year if it is attached to a long-lived host plant. Its twining and branching stems are pale yellow, greenish-yellow, golden yellow or orange in colour. They are hairless, thin (about 1 mm thick), and thread-like in appearance. These parasitic stems have small suckers (called haustoria) which are used to penetrate the host plant's stems or leaves and extract nutrients (Navie 2004).
The small flowers (2–4 mm long) are cream to white in colour and slightly bell-shaped. These flowers have five sepals and five pointed petals which are partially fused together near the base. The petal lobes are bent outwards or downwards when fully open. They are borne in small dense clusters (up to 15 mm across), containing about five flowers.
The fruit are greenish-yellow coloured globular capsules (3–4 mm across) containing up to four seeds. Seeds are tan-coloured, greyish-brown or dark brown (1 to 1.5 mm across) and more or less rounded in shape, but with one or two slightly flattened sides. Their surfaces are dull in appearance and have a fine granular texture (Navie 2004).
For further information and assistance with identification of Golden Dodder contact the herbarium in your state or territory.
Flower colour
White
Growth form (weed type/habit)
Vine
Where it currently grows? Preferred habitat
Golden Dodder is a common and widespread weed that grows in a wide range of environmental conditions and on a wide variety of host plants. It is most commonly found growing on plants and other weeds in gardens, parks, along roadsides and along waterways. It is also a serious pest of crops and sown pastures (Navie 2004).
Are there similar species?
Golden Dodder is very similar to the other naturalised (i.e., Cuscuta planiflora, C. suaveolens and C. epithymum) and native (i.e., C. australis, C. chinensis, C. tasmanica and C. victoriana) Dodders. However, Golden Dodder's bright golden yellow or orange coloured stems easily distinguish it from C. planiflora, C. epithymum and C. victoriana, which usually have reddish or pinkish stems. It can also be distinguished from C. suaveolens and C. tasmanica by its dense flowers clusters, as both these species have loose flower clusters, with flowers borne on stalks 3–6 mm long (Navie 2004).
Australian Dodder (C. australis) is very difficult to distinguish from Golden Dodder, but its petals are usually blunt-tipped or rounded and are often held upright. Finally, unlike Golden Dodder, Chinese Dodder (C. chinensis) has capsules that are entirely hidden by its withered petals (Navie 2004).
Golden Dodder is also superficially similar to the native Dodder Laurels (Cassytha spp.), which are also parasitic twiners. However, the Dodder laurels have flowers with three petals and three sepals (instead of five) and 6–9 stamens (versus 5 in Dodder), their stems are often hairy and greenish in colour, and they have fleshy one-seeded fruits (Navie 2004).