Witch's Hair

What is that crazy orange stuff that looks like orange spaghetti hanging on plants? The fancy names are Cuscuta and Dodder. The fun name for it is Witch's Hair.

Remember the Mistletoe of winter? Like Mistletoe, Witch's Hair is a parasite. A parasite is a living thing that lives within another living thing or upon another living thing.

Witch's Hair makes flowers and these turn into seeds. The seeds fall into the soil and the "orange spaghetti" starts growing out of the soil. The Witch's Hair (Dodder) can sense the odor of a good plant for attachment. After reaching the host plant, the Witch's Hair wraps around it. In the first picture, the Dodder has grown up into a Pepper Tree. In the second and third picture, the Witch's Hair has found a sage plant to act as its host.
Once the Witch's Hair finds a host plant, it sticks little microscopic pointy things into the plant. These pointy things become embedded in the host plant. Then the Witch's Hair can start to suck up nutrients from the Pepper Tree or the Sage plant, like a sponge absorbing water. Now the Witch's Hair is set. It can just lay there and take in the nutrition from another plant. It is a true parasite.

"Witch's Hair" is a funny name for a plant. Look around your neighborhood. If you could rename the plants and trees on your street, what would YOU name them and why?

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