Folk names include strangle tare, strangleweed, scaldweed, beggarweed, lady’s laces, fireweed, wizard’s net, devil’s guts, devil’s hair, devil’s ringlet, goldthread, hailweed, hairweed, hellbine, love vine, pull-down, angel hair, and witch’s hair.

After a dodder attaches itself to a plant, it wraps itself around it. If the host contains food beneficial to dodder, the dodder produces haustoria that insert themselves into the vascular system of the host. Far-red light signal and physical contact with its host plant are required to initiate haustoria formation. The vestigial root of the dodder in the soil then dies. Through the developmental process of the haustoria, the dodder’s searching hyphae reach the vascular tissue of the host and form plasmodesmata connections. In addition to water and nutrients, the exchange of mRNA, small RNA, and small peptides occurs between the host and the dodder through this connection.