Could it be Dodder Vine? I've only seen it in pictures, its a totally weird plant.

Here is a link that might be useful: http://search.aol.com/aol/imageDetails?s_it=imageDetails&q=dodder+vine&img=http%3A%2F%2Facwm.co.la.ca.us%2Fscripts%2Fimages%2Fdodder_2.gif&v_t=nscpsearch&host=http%3A%2F%2Facwm.co.la.ca.us%2Fscripts%2Fdodder.htm&width=181&height=136&thumbUrl=http%3A%2F%2Ft0.gstatic.com%2Fimages%3Fq%3Dtbn%3AANd9GcSsuSJIswAREeYZWoz_lI8saxd1bY-mQoEqjuuGig1NGt63WsHPtX_jDcUrvg%3Aacwm.co.la.ca.us%2Fscripts%2Fimages%2Fdodder_2.gif&b=image%3Fq%3Dd%3DimageResultsBack%26v_t%3Dnscpsearch%26oreq%3De57c762265574bc8ac3512279904ce36&imgHeight=998&imgWidth=1330&imgTitle=Dodder+is+generally+not+a&imgSize=1257197&hostName=acwm.co.la.ca.us

Yikes!! I do think that's it. That stuff is nasty. Ours is pretty isolated but I can see that we really need to get this eradicated quickly before it spreads. Weird that it just suddenly appeared.

Thanks for the tip on what this is.

....and, the dodder you're seeing sounds to be the native type, which is almost never considered a problem in the natural landscape. It may be that the right thing to do is nothing. Also, not particularly able to "infest" most woody plants nor grasses.

+oM

I wonder how I can tell for sure if it's native. It's very orange and I've never seen it anywhere around here. For now I'll keep pulling oily off to keep it from spreading,

Like I said, I've only seen it in photos, this may sound weird but I rather like it. Its funky looking, it has great texture and I like the orange color. I'd try to keep it and let it have its spot, maybe trim it if necessary.

The name is funny too. When people ask it would be fun to say "Thats my Dodder".

This post was edited by TexasRanger10 on Thu, Jul 31, 14 at 15:32

Only way to be sure it is native would be to identify to species, which isn't easy with dodders. Requires close examination of the flowers and fruit. More than likely it is native given the description of it being orange. Probably Cuscuta gronovii which is the most common species.

Might help to understand the life history. Dodders are parasitic annuals, at least in temperate regions (they can be perennial in the tropics). They need to establish from seed each year and can only grow for a short time before finding a host, then they lose their roots and grow through the existing vegetation. They appear localized because they can only spread from plant to plant. Dodders are a natural component of grassland communities so you shouldn't be too concerned about it causing harm to the community, though you may want to control it for aesthetics.

Okay - I feel a little better about it not destroying my savanna plants that are now quite nice after six years. I don't like the looks of this myself so I'll just keep pulling it off but not worry too much about completely eradicating it.

Check this out. "Zombie Spaghetti".

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duplicate

This post was edited by TexasRanger10 on Thu, Jul 31, 14 at 18:50

What a crazy plant!!

Well native or not this thing is nasty and I've been trying to eradicate it. Pulling everything off and cutting off or pulling out all the plants it's infested. It behaves just as described. You can cut off the part of the plant it's wrapped around but if it's already invaded the inside of the stem it grows from the inside out reappearing and producing seeds. It's in seed mode now so I'm inspecting every day and removing all visible evidence. It is localized so it's a limited area I'm inspecting fortunately. If it reappears in the spring I guess we will torch it or maybe we'll even torch the area this fall. Still wondering why this suddenly appeared when I've never seen it anywhere in my life.