Cuscuta japonica

Cuscuta japonica, commonly known as Japanese dodder, is a parasitic vine. It has been listed by the State of California as a noxious weed.[1] The USDA classifies the Japanese dodder as, "Kingdom: Plantae, Subkingdom: Tracheobionta, Superdivision: Spermatophyta, Division: Magnoliophyta, Class: Magnoliopsida, Subclass: Asteridae, Order: Solanales, Family: Cuscutaceae, Genus: Cuscuta L., Species: Cuscuta japonica Choisy."[2] It has a range of effects on its host[3] and has repeatedly been introduced to the United States of America.[4] C. japonica looks very similar to other vines, making it difficult to distinguish.[5]

Cuscuta japonica
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Solanales
Family: Convolvulaceae
Genus: Cuscuta
Species:
C. japonica
Binomial name
Cuscuta japonica

Effects on host

The Japanese dodder is a plant that parasitizes other plants. From mild development issues to serious complications sometimes resulting in death, the Japanese dodder can cause a wide spectrum of effects on its plant host.[3] Farmers in particular can be affected by this plant, as infection leads to less crops they are able to harvest.[6]

Morphology

Cuscuta japonica shares a similar morphology to vines, displaying stems that are mostly yellow with bits of red along it.[5] The Japanese dodder also exhibits small flowers that are "pale-yellow to cream"[7] in color and contain one circular stigma.[8] Any leaves it has are very small and "scale-like" in shape and texture.[9] Fruit produced are small and capsule-like, only carrying a couple of seeds.[10]

History

C. japonica can be found non-invasively in a variety of places on the continent of Asia.[10] The plant was introduced and reintroduced to the United States of America multiple times starting from the 1940s under the guise of a medicinal plant, and was thought to have been eradicated a couple of times.[4]

References
  1. http://www.cdfa.ca.gov/phpps/ipc/noxweedinfo/noxweedinfo_jdodder.htm
  2. "Plants Profile for Cuscuta japonica (Japanese dodder)". plants.usda.gov. Retrieved 2020-02-15.
  3. Dara, Surendra (2011-09-01). "Japanese dodder, an exotic and noxious weed found in Santa Barbara County". University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources. Retrieved 2020-03-01.
  4. "Cuscuta japonica (Japanese dodder)". www.cabi.org. Retrieved 2020-03-02.
  5. Dara, Surendra (2011-09-01). "Japanese dodder, an exotic and noxious weed found in Santa Barbara County". University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources. Retrieved 2020-03-01.
  6. Kaiser, Bettina; Vogg, Gerd; Fürst, Ursula B.; Albert, Markus (2015-02-04). "Parasitic plants of the genus Cuscuta and their interaction with susceptible and resistant host plants". Frontiers in Plant Science. 6: 45. doi:10.3389/fpls.2015.00045. ISSN 1664-462X. PMC 4316696. PMID 25699071.
  7. "Dodder". University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources. March 2010. Retrieved 2020-03-01.
  8. Park, Inkyu; Song, Jun-Ho; Yang, Sungyu; Kim, Wook Jin; Choi, Goya; Moon, Byeong Cheol (2019-06-03). "Cuscuta Species Identification Based on the Morphology of Reproductive Organs and Complete Chloroplast Genome Sequences". International Journal of Molecular Sciences. 20 (11): 2726. doi:10.3390/ijms20112726. ISSN 1422-0067. PMC 6600609. PMID 31163646.
  9. Dara, Surendra (2011-09-01). "Japanese dodder, an exotic and noxious weed found in Santa Barbara County". University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources. Retrieved 2020-03-01.
  10. "Japanese dodder, Cuscuta japonica Solanales: Cuscutaceae". www.invasive.org. Retrieved 2020-03-02.
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