Seeds germinate in the spring and early summer. The young seedlings develop a temporary root system until the dodder attaches to a host plant. Only eat dodder harvested from plants you can positively identify as safe to eat! People use the parts that grow above the ground to make medicine. Depending on the reference, there are somewhere between 100 – 170 species worldwide with 13 species reportedly found in Ohio. More than 150 species occur worldwide, although dodder is most prevalent in the Americas. Dodder is also used in the preparation of a homeopathic remedy. Modified roots penetrate the host plant to extract nutrients. Dodder is a thread-like, parasitic annual vine. Idiots Guide Foraging covers 70 of North America's tastiest and easy to find wild edibles shown with the same big pictures as here on the Foraging Texas website. Dodders are parasitic plants belonging to the morning glory family, Convolvulaceae. It lacks chlorophyll and is yellow, orange or red in color. It is a parasite evidently and has no roots and covers the flower (cockscomb) and chokes it to death. Dodder I have a bad weed spreading in my flower bed here in Hot Springs Village and no one knows what it is or how to control it. Because dodder absorbs many chemicals from its host plants, it itself can become toxic. Dodder, Cuscuta species, is a parasitic annual plant that infests many crops, ornamentals, native plants, and weeds. Overview Information Dodder is an herb. Leaves are small and scale-like. All of them are parasitic and they could be red, orange or yellow in color. Side Effects and Considerations Buy my book! It appears to be almost entirely leafless. Plant is used for treating constipation, liver, spleen diseases, diarrhea, inflammation etc. Dodder is a genus that actually brings together more than 170 different plants. The plants are characterized by a very thin stem that wraps around other plants. 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