I wasn’t sure if I should write about a plant that ... and sucking out water, minerals and nutrients. Once established with a suitable host, the connection to the dodder’s soil root is severed.

The plant genus Cuscuta consists of more than 200 species that can be found almost all over the world. The parasites, known as dodder ... absorb nutrients and water from the soil.

The dodder uses its haustoria, instead of leaves or roots, to leech water and nutrients out of its host. And it keeps growing larger, throwing out more spindly vines that grab on to more plants ...