If the host plan contains food beneficial to the dodder, the dodder immediately produces haustoria, modified adventitious root that eventually puncture through the host stem. Haustoria begin as swellings (known as prehaustoria) on the surface of a coiled dodder stem. Once the host stem surface has been breached, haustoria make connection with host phloem tissues9ans sometimes also wit host xylem), and then proceed to extract carbohydrates, water, and mineral slate. The original root in the soil then dies and the parasite finally loses its connection of the ground.
The dodder can grow up to 3 inches every day and continually produces new Haustoria to drain the host plant of nutrients. However, it rarely kills its host plant, although the host show stunted growth patterns after severe infection.
The dodder has numerous tiny (2 to 4 mm long), bell-shaped, white, pink, cream to yellowish flowers that can be borne in a lose cluster deepening on the species. Flowers normally appear from early June to the end of October. Same species flower later, for instance, C. reflexa flowers from October to January. After the flowers are gone, small fruits appear. Dodder fruits are small (about 2 to 3 mm wide) and have 1 to 4 seeds inside. The skin of the fruit is paper- thin and breaks easily, soiling the seeds on to the area here they can grow with plenty of host plants.
The seeds are minute, yellow to born or black in color, nearly and have a fine rough surface with one round and two flat sides. These seeds are provided with a hard seed coat and are produced in large quantities. Smoothseeded Alfalfa dodder [C. approximate bad. var. urceolata {Kunze} Yuncker] is reported to produce over 16,000 seeds per plant in a single season. Moist soil and sunlight is required for seed germination. Dodder seeds can germinate without a host plant, unlike the seeds of most parasitic plants. Yet in some cause, if no suitable host is present, the seed may remain dormant for years. The seed viability range up to sixty years and germination can be delayed for years.
