Cuscutaceae

Cuscuta salina

Salt Marsh Dodder

Twining parasite in salt marshes. Most often orange, can be pink or white. Tangle of hair-like stems attaches to many plants with knobby projections invading stems of host plant. These sucking parts are all along twisting stems. Flowers (not pictured) small, white, later becoming round berry-like capsules with 4 seeds that fall to start process again. Grows in salt marshes, edges of ponds, along coast. Other dodders look about the same and live on herbs, grains, and shrubs.

• Rarity: Locally Common
• Flowering Time: All Summer
• Life Cycle: Perennial
• Height: Tangled Mass
• Habitat: Coastal
• Found In: Olympic Np
• Native: Yes