Small bouquet of pale Virginia Pennywort flowers sprouting amongst leaf litter

Virginia Pennywort (Obolaria virginica)
WNC 04.09.26

I just knew this had to be a cute little parasite...I was right! There's a parasitic plant "look" that's hard to explain but I know it when I know it.

#spring #ncwildflowers #nativeplants #parasiticplant

Image of MRes Student Annabelle Knutson.

This parasitic plant, Lathraea clandestina, is being studied by MRes student Annabelle Knutson, as part of our work on genome duplication in #WGDip.

Lathraea experienced a genome duplication🧬 & this may have facilitated its parasitic adaptations!

#wildflower #parasiticplant #WildflowerHour 🧪

Common toothwort (Lathraea squamaria) and Purple (or hidden) toothwort (Lathraea clandestina), in Castle Howard Arboretum, N. Yorkshire.

#photo #photography #botany #parasiticplant #castlehowardarboretum #yorkshire

Complementary to our work on #ClimateChange and #phenology of Lathraea squamaria #Orobanchaceae, we have now published a longer paper on the morphology and anatomy of this #ParasiticPlant across different stages of its life cycle.

The paper is under full open access for the next 50 days!

I'll join the uprising with a talk on "Flipping the parasite spectrum: #PlantHumanities meet eco-physiology".
Stay tuned for a communion among #ParasiticPlant ecology and physiology, literature, and social history!

A Parasitic Plant Is Looking for a New Host…

A parasitic plant (Cuscuta) loses its original host and probes a nearby plant using chemical cues.
It never attaches — even after deploying massive new growth.

#platbehaviour #parasiticplant #timelapseplants
#plantscience
#cuscuta
#plantintelligence

Spring Forward: Reproductive Phenology of the Holoparasite Lathraea squamaria (Orobanchaceae) Lathraea squamaria is a peculiar holoparasitic plant. Here, we show that over a 14-year period, key stages in the reproductive phenology of this parasite have started significantly earlier. Most rema...

It's just in and in time for Christmas: our recently published #OpenAccess paper showing an astounding 14 YEARS of monitoring of #Lathraea, a peculiar #ParasiticPlant that shows earlier reproductive #phenology potentially following host-derived cues!

doi.org/10.1002/pei3...

Looks unreal, yet grows quietly beneath Himalayan soil.
#science #parasiticplant

Mistletoe Witch
#art #digitalart #originalart #xmas #yule #holidayart #monstergirl #anthro #witch #mistletoe #plantnymph #parasiticplant

BBSRC Yorkshire Bioscience DLA Programme - Decoding the epigenetic language shaping root parasite-host communication at University of Sheffield on FindAPhD.com PhD Project - BBSRC Yorkshire Bioscience DLA Programme - Decoding the epigenetic language shaping root parasite-host communication at University of Sheffield, listed on FindAPhD.com

Interested in dissecting the epigenetic code of a cereal killer? Apply for our fully-funded @yorkshirebiodtp.bsky.social #PhD project on Striga epigenomics at Sheffield by 7th Jan 2026:
www.findaphd.com/search/Proje...
Open to UK/International students.
#ParasiticPlant @sheffieldpps.bsky.social

Orobanche is a non-synthesising plant, a #parasiticplant. Northern Canberra Australia October 30 2025

#ParasiticPlant representation at the new museum exhibit at The Ridges!!! 💖

My #ParasiticPlant flyer series so far. How many species can you name?

Black and white sketch of bear corn in bloom

Bear corn (Conopholis americana)

Ink on sketchbook paper.

#inksketch #sketchbook #ncwildflowers #nativeplants #botanicalart #parasiticplant #bearcorn

Blooming bear corn among leaf litter

Bear corn (Conopholis americana)

WNC, April 2025

#kodakpixpro #wnc #naturephotography #parasiticplant #americancancerroot

The flyer is a tile pattern surrounding dodder and one-flowered cancer root, gotta get some #ParasiticPlant representation in 😎

Announcement of a chromosome-level assembly and annotation of #parasiticplant Cuscuta campestris

Flash photo of a cluster of ghost pipes in bloom

Ghost pipe (Monotopa uniflora)

Kuwohi, July 2025

#kodakpixpro #wnc #naturephotography #kuwohi #ghostpipe #parasiticplant

Spikes of maroon and white flowers on reddish stems emerging from a patch of green ivy

Planted by the late UC Berkeley professor Bob Ornduff, Orobanche hederae is an obligate parasite on ivy. Apparently Bob didn’t like the ivy on the Berkeley campus, but it hasn’t made a dent — they’re both thriving. #ucberkeley #orobanchaceae #parasiticplant

Saw so much one-flowered cancer root in my fav rich mesic diabase woods last week. 😭 They parasitize members of the aster family and this specimen is growing right next to a white wood aster that might be its host #ParasiticPlant

Ink drawing of beechdrops with the scientific name to the right.

Beechdrops (Epifagus virginiana)
Ink on sketchbook paper.

#inksketch #wildflowers  
#beechdrops #parasiticplant
#botanicalart

It may be a common sight around here, but I still find dodder an extraordinary parasitic plant

#Dodder #ParasiticPlant #NatureObservation #PlantEcology #Botany #FieldNotes #WildPlants #theoutpost

Giving a talk in Philly next month! Gonna be discussing parasitic plants in post-agricultural forests for Philadelphia Botanical Club on May 22nd (ask a sedge freak or tune in on zoom). There's something here for tree parasite and mycoheterotroph fans alike! #ParasiticPlant

Backlit Bear Corn inflorescence.

Bear corn? I don’t remember eating bear corn.
Bear Corn
AKA Cancer Root
AKA …
Conopholis americana
#nativeplants #southernappalachia #parasiticplant

Found some mistletoe hanging from this tree. (Phoradendron leucarpum) Common names include American mistletoe, eastern mistletoe, hairy mistletoe, and oak mistletoe.🌳

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phorade...

#mistletoe #trees #parasiticplant #plants

Nature’s viny vampire: Discovering what drives parasitic Cuscuta campestris Osaka Metropolitan University researchers have discovered the mechanism that drives the parasitic vine Cuscuta campestris to insert organs into plants after making contact with the hosts.

Nature’s viny vampire..🧛

Discover what drives #parasiticplant Cuscuta campestris to insert its organs into host plants:

Read EurekAlert! www.eurekalert.org/news-release...

Read the original article here:
doi.org/10.1093/pcp/...

#PlantScience

A red plant in the shape of a candy cane, sprouting from thick forest duff. Monotropa means 'one turn', describing the behavior of the stem.

Two red non-photosynthetic canes growing between chlorophyll-producing green foliage

#Monotropa coccinea. Many only know of the white species of #IndianPipe (uniflora), but there are actually 3 different species in the genus. This #parasiticplant doesn't produce chlorophyll, instead parasitizing its nutrients from fungi in the soil.

#plants #botany #naturalist 🌿 #mycoheterotroph

Amyema villiflora
Loranthaceae
Host - Terminalia sp.
Dungeness, Lucinda,
North Queensland
26th January 2025

#AmyemaVilliflora #Loranthaceae #Mistletoe #parasiticplant #ozplants #wildoz #ozflora #AustralianFlora
#Australiannature #botany #nature #Bluesky #Lucinda #NorthQueensland

Lysiana spathulata
Loranthaceae
Host - Acacia sp.
Crystal Creek (Estuary)
North Queensland
May 2020

#LysianaSpathulata #Loranthaceae #Mistletoe #parasiticplant #ozplants #wildoz #ozflora #AustralianFlora
#Australiannature #botany #Botanic #nature #Bluesky

apps.lucidcentral.org/rainforest/t...

Dendrophthoe curvata
Syn. Dendrophthoe falcata
Loranthaceae
Paluma - Hidden Valley Road

#DendrophthoeCurvata #Loranthaceae #Mistletoe #parasiticplant #ozplants #wildoz #ozflora #AustralianFlora
#Australiannature #botany #Botanic #nature #Bluesky

parasiticplants.siu.edu/NewGuineaLor...