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Species Image Gallery (opens in a new window) |
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| THE DODDER FAMILY | |||||||||
| The dodders are parasitic on other plant species and do not have chlorophyll, therefore they cannot photosynthesize to produce their own food. The dodders twine around shrubs or herbs and attach by “suckers”. Leaves are absent. The flowers are in umbrella-like, flat-topped or head-like clusters. The flowers are small and have four or five sepals and petals. The stamens are alternate and fused to the petals. The fruit is a capsule. | |||||||||
| HAZEL DODDER | |||||||||
| LATIN NAME: Cuscuta corylii | |||||||||
| WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE? | |||||||||
| Hazel dodder attaches to other plants, such as hazelnut or wild licorice, with suckers. The stem is small, yellow-orange and wraps around the stem of its host. Hazel dodder has no leaves. The flowers are stalked and are in small, branched clusters. The flowers are surrounded by scale-like bracts. The petals are bell-shaped and have scale-like appendages in the throat of the petal tube. The fruit is a capsule that is capped by the withered petals. The seeds are small, round, and covered in bran-like scales. | |||||||||
| WHERE DOES IT GROW? | |||||||||
| Hazel dodder is parasitic on a number of plants, including wild licorice and hazelnut. | |||||||||
| WHERE IS IT FOUND IN SASKATCHEWAN? | |||||||||
| This plant grows in southern Saskatchewan in the Mixed Grassland ecoregion. | |||||||||
| WHY IS IT RARE? | |||||||||
| Hazel dodder is vulnerable because of extreme rarity and limitation to one region of the province. The Saskatchewan population is isolated from other populations of the same species. It may also be under recorded because it is easy to overlook. | |||||||||
| HOW TO IDENTIFY HAZEL DODDER | |||||||||
| * Are the flowers 4-parted? * Is the plant lacking chlorophyll (i.e. it is not green)? * Is the plant growing on other species? * Did you find it in southern Saskatchewan? | |||||||||
| If you answered yes to all of these questions, you may have found hazel dodder! | |||||||||
