Homage to Arizona: Continued
(Charles Platt is a guest blogger)
In April 2005, while driving with my significant other on Arizona back roads near the California border, we noticed some clumps of strange orange stuff, like candy floss, tangled in normal vegetation. Some kind of fungus? A parasitic plant? A toxic byproduct of industrial waste? An alien life form scattered by black helicopters? We never did figure it out. It was fibrous, like string, and seemed to have no root system of its own. It appeared within a matter of days and was gone by the end of the summer. During ten years of traveling around, Arizona, I've never seen anything like it.
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Could it be a plant version of Morgellons?
Dan
Really? You've never seen dodder since? It's almost always a lot less prominent than the this particularly impressive specimen, but it's quite common, around southern California at least.
no idea what it is but it looks like Marsh Dodder, a parasitic "plant?" that grows on pickleweed. Perhaps its related.
It's somewhat FSM-like isn't it. Perhaps you had a spiritual vision from the Noodly One.
Or I suppose it could be that dodder stuff.
Yep, dodder. And it is a parasitic plant.
That is Dodder, we always called it Witches Hair, sometimes it has small flowers if you look close. If you were from Southern California you would be familiar with it, it is everywhere. It is a parasite and is related to the morning glory I believe (or so I was told).
Dodder, for sure. Having no chlorophyll throws everyone off track. I had it in my garden one humid summer in Ottawa, ON. Came in with some mulch, I think. Watching it from day to day, it looked like it was breathing, it spread so fast. It never returned.
As long as it didn't say, "I AM THAT I AM..." It does look like a burning bush, doesn't it? Maybe if you eat it, it will give you a good trip. And then we would have an aswer to what happened to Moses.
The FSM now has a Noodly Bush? Does he give his flock the Holy Recipe for FSM carbonara?
I've heard this parasite referred to as 'witch's hair', and have often seen it on the hills of the Sepulveda Pass from the 405 fwy. That neon orange color really pops out.
ja, dat's a me dodder.
If nothing else, this stuff sure has a plethora of colorful nicknames: devil's guts, devil's hair, devil's ringlet, goldthread, hailweed, hairweed, hellbine, love vine, pull-down, strangleweed, and witch's hair.
Good thing he's never seen Pholisma sonorae. That'd really blow his mind.
I don't know what it is, but I would love to throw it in my dye pot.
whatever it is, it's pretty- really nice shade of yellow, like a sunburst
That is some pretty interesting stuff, dodder is like attack noddles. I especially j'adore the different nicknames it has. Of course, most of them have the word "devil" in them, but my favorite is "hellbine."
It has some gorgeous formations, but as a crop parasite its infestations can cause notable problems.
Well I'll be doddered...
This doddering old fool did not recognize this as dodder, either.
Parasitic plants are so awesome. Mistletoe is my favorite.
Truly bizarre stuff. I've always wanted to pit dodder against kudzu in an ULTIMATE BOTANICAL CAGE MATCH.
"Some kind of fungus? A parasitic plant? A toxic byproduct of industrial waste? An alien life form scattered by black helicopters? We never did figure it out. "
It is obviously something bad caused by evil unions. Not that I'd say anything like that to provoke political dissent or anything.
it's morgellons...for plants!
FINALLY! I've seen this stuff all over the trails whenever I go out horseback riding here in SoCal and first always assumed it was castoff/remnants from old snow fencing, since it's so.. plastic-y and fake looking, but slowly realized it must be some sort of vegetation the way it would grow and appear, but could never figure out what exactly it was (it's SO bizarre, isn't it?)
mystery- solved!
In response to DIQ
Please - dodder wouldn't stand a chance against Kudzu. Bittersweet and kudzu, now that would be a match!
Interestingly enough that is the orange "spagetti vine" i described in the comments of your:
Homage to Arizona 3
You read my mind ;-)
Thanks for identifying that strange strange vine.
Hello Mudder, Hello Fodder, here I am at, Arizona...
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I (unfortunately) have discovered a vine that'd give kudzu a challenge. We planted Fo Tea (a Chinese medicinal -- no idea what its scientific name is), and that stuff is virtually unstoppable... makes bamboo, mint, and ivy seem quite tame.
As for the Dodder, we'd always called it "Witch's Hair" and it's an impressive sight -- especially when it's intermixed with the Scotch Broom, blooming on the edge of Rim of the World Drive -- it's like the battle of the neon colors.
Dodder, latin name Cuscuta Sp., is indeed in the morning glory family. In my hometown in Jalisco, Mexico it covers trees a lot.
It's used in Chinese medicine as a kidney tonic for problems including spermatorhea, lower back pain, and ringing in the ears,
Now I get what Beetlejuice meant when he said
"We come fer yer Dodder, Chuck!"
I'm sure it's quite tasty with some marinara sauce, or Cincinnati chili.
Actually, Dodder, or "Love vine", is a saprophyte, not a parasite. It starts out from seed as a clorophyllic plant, but then attaches to a host and starts to draw nutrients from that host, losing its own clorophyll. Unlike parasites, saprophytes rely on the continued life of their host for their own success.
Oops, my bad, saprophytes derive nutrients from dead or dying material. Examples include many fungi, bacteria...
Field biology was soooo long ago... *sigh*
ja! dats what I say, you drink der sap and yer fight! Dat's my crazy dodder!
(you do understand I will not stop until at least lightly wounded)
Ive seen it here in the tropics of the east coast of Australia in my grandfathers yard. We always called it Strangle Weed though. Now that I think about it I havent seen it for years either, like it died out for the person on Canada.
I am apparantly some sort of anomaly, because I've lived in southern California for over 21 years and have never seen nor heard of such a thing.
This stuff grew frequently in the desert around Las Vegas when I was growing up. It is very edible and takes like lettuce. Pretty tasty.
Nice!!!Thank you comment people... I've been wondering what this shit was for YEARS!!! XD
From what I can see in these pics, I know it.
We have a lot here in Italy, it is an endemic parasitic vegetal of agrarian fields. It likes warm areas, and it is hard to kill.
Don't know the name, but I know that it is dangerous and easy to spread. Don't touch it and don't bring it home. It can grow very fast from a little bit.
Dodder is great in the dyepot, it does a fabulous orange yellow on protein fibers without mordanting.