Strewn alongside highways that border coastal salt marshes lives an organism, seemingly camouflaged as neon orange plastic waste, that blends in with the road- shoulder trash. This spring, notice this living creature, which is actually a plant, when its color becomes fully saturated, glowing orange-pink. Though it lacks leaves, it will begin to produce tiny white blossoms in May and June. Evolved from the morning glory family of herbaceous vines, dodder goes by many names: from “freaky-looking mesh” and “strangleweed” to “living, jumbled fishing-line accident.” While the genus Cuscuta includes hundreds of species that grow worldwide, California salt marsh dodder (Cuscuta pacifica) challenges our understanding of plant behavior and the community dynamics of parasites in tidal wetland ecologies.
In the Bay Area, specifically, it tends to live near the shore, in tidal wetlands, where nature persists right up against freeways.
To read this Bay Nature magazine story ...
Access to the current issue of Bay Nature magazine is a benefit of Bay Nature Membership. Get Bay Nature magazine in print and online, plus live educational talks and naturalist-led hikes, by becoming a Member.
Join / RenewIf you are a Member, please log in to your account for full access to the current issue of Bay Nature magazine and to register for Bay Nature Talks and Hikes. Log in
