HORTICULTURE

Detailed explanation-1: -Cuscuta is a parasitic plant . It has no chlorophyll and cannot make its own food by photosynthesis. Instead, it grows on other plants, using their nutrients for its growth and weakening the host plant. Agriculturalists consider cuscuta a destructive weed and attempt to eradicate it.

Detailed explanation-2: -Cuscuta is known as a parasite as it depends on another plant for its survival. The plant on which it grows is known as the host. Cuscuta can be seen around in the form of yellow tubular structures growing on the stems of other plants. It is devoid of leaves. Another such example of parasitic plants is Loranthus.

Detailed explanation-3: -Some parasites, such as Rafflesia and Thurber’s stemsucker, grow within the plant and only emerge to flower, while others attach their haustoria externally. All parasitic plants have evolved from non-parasitic species. Some are only partially parasitic.