Editing Cuscuta (section)

==Description==
[[File:Cuscuta on creeper plant.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Cuscuta on creeper plant]]
Cuscuta can be identified by its thin stems appearing leafless, with the [[leaf|leaves]] reduced to minute scales. In these respects it closely resembles the similarly parasitic, but unrelated genus, ''[[Cassytha]]''. From mid-summer to early autumn, the vines can produce small [[fruit]] that take the same color as the vine, and are approximately the size of a common pea.  It has very low levels of [[chlorophyll]]; some species such as ''[[Cuscuta reflexa]]'' can photosynthesize slightly, while others such as ''[[Cuscuta europaea|C. europaea]]'' are entirely dependent on the host plants for nutrition.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Machado | first1 = M. A. | last2 = Zetsche | first2 = K. | year = 1990 | title = A structural, functional and molecular analysis of plastids of the holoparasites ''Cuscuta reflexa'' and ''Cuscuta europaea'' | journal = Planta | volume = 181 | issue = 1| pages = 91–96 | doi=10.1007/bf00202329 | pmid=24196679| bibcode = 1990Plant.181...91M | s2cid = 24486738 }}</ref>

[[File:Cuscuta europaea 2005.06.12 15.07.24.jpg|right|thumb|''[[Cuscuta europaea]]'' in flower]]
[[File:Cuscuta in Flower, Iran.jpg|alt=Cuscuta in Flower, Iran|thumb|Cuscuta in Flower, [[Iran]]]]
Dodder [[flower]]s range in color from white to pink to yellow to cream. Some flower in the early summer, others later, depending on the species. The [[seed]]s are minute and produced in large quantities. They have a hard coating, and typically can survive in the soil for 5–10 years, sometimes longer.
[[File:Dodder Forming a Net on its Host.jpg|alt=Dodder Forming a Net on its Host|thumb|Dodder forming a net on its host]]
Dodder seeds sprout at or near the surface of the soil. Although dodder [[germination]] can occur without a host, it has to reach a green plant quickly and is adapted to grow towards the nearby plants by following [[Chemoreceptor|chemosensor]]y clues.<ref name=npr>{{cite news |title=Devious Dodder Vine Sniffs Out Its Victims |url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6160709 |quote= Some flowers release a pleasing fragrance. Other plants smell. And then there's the parasitic dodder vine, which has the remarkable ability to sniff out its victims. Farmers have placed the dodder – aka "Strangleweed," "Devil Guts," and "Witches Shoelaces" – on a ten most-wanted list of weeds.  |publisher=[[National Public Radio]] |access-date=2007-07-21 }}</ref> If a plant is not reached within 5 to 10 days of germination, the dodder seedling will die. Before a host plant is reached, the dodder, as other plants, relies on food reserves in the embryo; the [[cotyledons]], though present, are [[Vestigiality|vestigial]].<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Macpherson | first1 = G. E. | year = 1921 | title = Comparison of development in dodder and morning glory | url =https://zenodo.org/record/1431413 | journal = Botanical Gazette | volume = 71 | issue = 5| pages = 392–398 | doi=10.1086/332850| s2cid = 85094664 | doi-access = free }}</ref>
[[File:Cuscuta parasite plant.JPG|thumb|right|''Cuscuta'' on ''Acacia'' in [[Punjab (Pakistan)|Punjab]], Pakistan]]