Dodder laurel, Slender dodder
Cassytha capillaris

Family: Lauraceae

What it is like

A plant which keeps growing from year to year by living on other plants. It twines around plants and climbs. It can make some of its own food from carbon dioxide in the air. It attaches to plants by special processes with grow into the plant. The stems are green and become reddish brown when they dry out. They are 0.4-0.5 mm across. If leaves occur they are very small (1 mm) and triangular. Young plants can have hairs but they become hairless. The plant does not have leaves. The flower is a spike. The flowers are white and do not have a flower stalk. The flowers are round and the fruit are pearly pink. They become red when dry. The fruit are 4-6 mm by 3-4 mm. They can be oval or lobed. (It differs from Cassytha filiformis by having a slender almost hairless stem and fruit which are smaller, oval and becoming red when dry.)

There are 15-20 Cassytha species. Sometimes they are in the family Cassythaceae.

Where it is found

A tropical plant. The grow in dry, open, sandy hills. In tropical Queensland it grows from sea level to 600 m altitude. It can grow in arid places.

Countries/locations it is found in

Asia, Australia, Indochina, Indonesia, Mariana Islands, Micronesia, Pacific, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Saipan, SE Asia, Sri Lanka, Vietnam

How it is used for food

The fruit are eaten. (If they are bitter they are not eaten.) CAUTION: Some Cassytha have an alkaloid that can cause abortion and should not therefore be eaten by pregnant women.

It is not known if they are used for food in Papua New Guinea.

Edible parts

Fruit

How it is grown

In northern Australia plants flower and fruit from February to June.

Its other names

Local names

Synonyms

Cassytha glabella R. Br.; Cassytha strigosa Fitzg.; Cassytha tenuis Allen;