Dodder.Cuscuta Gronovii.
Blossoming from August to October in low, damp, and shady ground.
A parasite, climbing high on other plants by winding its smooth, round, bright orange stems closely about their stalks, and growing to them by many sharp little suckers.
There are no leaves, for the vine, stealing its food from honest workers, has no use for them.
The small, broad bell-shaped flower spreads at the top into 5 short divisions; the corolla is of a dull white color, and the inconspicuous calyx greenish-white. The flowers are crowded in thick humps, at short intervals along the twisting stems.
The globular seed-box begins soon to swell within the flower, and develops while the blossoming still goes on. The Dodder starts at first, like an honest plant, from the ground, but as soon as it finds a convenient plant to tap, it breaks its connection with the earth, and wraps itself closely about its victim.