Why does the dodder plant bear haustoria ?
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Answer:
Dodder, (genus Cuscuta), genus of about 145 species of leafless, twining, parasitic plants in the morning glory family (Convolvulaceae). They are widely distributed throughout the temperate and tropical regions of the world, and many species have been introduced with their host plants into new areas and are considered invasive species.
The dodder contains no chlorophyll and instead absorbs food through haustoria; these are rootlike organs that penetrate the tissue of a host plant and may kill it. The slender, stringlike stems of the dodder may be yellow, orange, pink, or brown in colour. The dodder’s flowers, in nodulelike clusters, are made up of tiny yellow or white bell-like, lobed corollas (united petals). Its leaves are reduced to minute scales.