Cuscuta pacifica facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Cuscuta pacifica |
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| var. pacifica | |
| Scientific classification | |
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Cuscuta
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| Species: |
pacifica
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Cuscuta pacifica is a special kind of plant known as a dodder. People often call it goldenthread because of its thin, yellowish stems.
Contents
Where Does Goldenthread Grow?
This interesting plant naturally grows along the western coast of North America. You can find it from British Columbia in Canada all the way down to Baja California in Mexico.
It loves to live near the ocean in places called salt marshes. These are wet, muddy areas where salty water from the sea mixes with fresh water. Cuscuta pacifica is a halophyte, which means it's a plant that can grow well in salty soil. A good example of where it lives is the San Francisco Bay area.
What Does Goldenthread Look Like?
Cuscuta pacifica is a thin plant that grows every year. It has yellowish stems that look like threads. These stems wrap very tightly around other plants.
This plant has very tiny leaves that look like scales. It also has no roots! This is because it is a parasitic plant. This means it gets all its food and water from other plants, called "host plants." It uses special parts called haustoria to tap into the host plant and take its nutrients. All dodder plants are parasitic.
Flowers and Host Plants
The goldenthread plant makes small flowers. These flowers are bell-shaped and white. They have five pointed parts.
Cuscuta pacifica usually grows on a plant called Salicornia. But it can also attach to other plants like Jaumea carnosa and Grindelia stricta.
Scientists have recently found that water birds might help spread the seeds of this plant. This has also been seen with another type of dodder called C. campestris.
Different Types of Goldenthread
There are two main types, or varieties, of Cuscuta pacifica:
- Cuscuta pacifica var. pacifica is the most common type. You can find it throughout the plant's entire range.
- Cuscuta pacifica var. papillata is very rare. It only grows in sand dunes in Mendocino County, California.
