Happy to announce the speakers of our October IPPS Online seminar: Guojing Shen and Laia Jené www.parasiticplants.org/2025/09/ipps...

We are looking for a PDRA for the PlantPlug project, turning parasitic plants into programmable bio-modules! Using mistletoe as a novel chassis, we are exploring the frontiers of inter-species communication. Apply online by 15/10/2025. *RP* #PlantSciencesJobs vacancies.essex.ac.uk/tlive_webrec...

Parasitic plants. Ants that both live where the plants’ host does and like the taste part of the seed covering

Well done, Max! Neofunctionalized RGF pathways drive haustorial organogenesis in parasitic plants | Science Advances www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Summer break is over - we resume with our IPPS Online Seminar on Wednesday, 3rd: www.parasiticplants.org/2025/09/ipps...

Parasitic trees

Also found today: some kind of parasitic orange flowering vine that looks like someone spilled spaghetti all over the usual plants

Curious about these plants? Follow the International Parasitic Plant Society on BlueSky for all the latest news on #parasiticplants!

Very happy to share our preprint on sorghum strigolactone diversity! 🌱 Sorghum naturally varies in strigolactones, plant hormones that can sometimes protect against the parasitic plant Striga. We asked if this diversity could be connected to potential trade-offs in host resistance strategies.

A close-up of the development of a parasitic endophyte by @l-teixeiracosta.bsky.social and colleagues. #parasiticplants

You might miss this rare plant in the Gorge or even step on it. It's the pine (or conifer) broomrape, Orobanche pinorum. It's a parasitic plant that grows in rocky soils & open forests below 7000 ft. It feeds on roots of the oceanspray shrub, Holodiscus discolor. No Native ... #Nativeplants

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

Two parasitic species form two different kingdoms in one post :) #parasiticplants

...when parasites become hosts #parasiticplants

Thyme Broomrape, Orobanche alba. Up to 25cm. Dark orange-red, stocky stem. Reddish scales at stem base. Inflorescence has only a few flowers. Parasitic on Wild Thyme. Grows on rocky habitats. (Distribution map from online BSBI 2020 Plant Atlas)

Ohhhh man. Ohhh man! Look at them! This is Lemon Paintbrush, variant of Indian Paintbrush (Castilleja purpurea var. citrina)! These plants are semi-parasitic on the roots of other plants (to help them survive in the rocky and sandy soils in which they grow). (This was a new find this year!)

Broomrape and woolly thistle at Shipton Bellinger today

A HIDDEN SABOTEUR: Pilostyles hamiltoniorum is a parasitic plant that lives INSIDE its host, only revealing itself through tiny flowers on the stems. New research shows this endoparasite slashes flower production by 52% in its host plants, despite being almost invisible! OA paper ➡️ buff.ly/gArS9tO

Golden thread so strong, Easily making its hold, Green host just may die. #haikufeels #make #Haiku #Poetry #BlueskyPhotography #Five-AngledDodder #Weeds #Garden #Gardening #Nature

What is that stuff, orange spaghetti? No! That is dodder (Cuscuta sp.), a parasitic flowering plant. I once determined the species, but I cannot remember which one it is. The slightly immature flower buds can be seen in the second image. 🌿

drhoz.tumblr.com/post/7909025... One of a genus of parasitic plant remarkably similar in appearance to the unrelated Dodder (Cuscuta sp.). The only way to tell them apart with any reliability is to wait until they flower. Goodale Sanctuary, West Coolup, WA

Dodder (Cuscuta epithymum) flowering on fixed dune, a wholly parasitic plant. It seems to particularly enjoy parasitising Sea sandwort (Honckenya peploides) which has turned yellow from stress. 📍Maharees, Co Kerry

In other news, I finally made it to the local park for a very short walk today, after two months sick in bed. The plants were full of flutter-bys, & also what I think is witches' hair; it's a parasitic plant really common in the part of Cali I'm from, but I'd never seen it in New England before.

Well done and well deserved! This will also bring more attention to parasitic plant research within the scientific community.

7) Rafflesia — parasitic plant that produces the largest flower, 20 lbs. The flower looks and smells like rotting flesh and attracts flies as pollinators. Does it have to be do ostentatious? No but it’s free, so fuck it ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I think this a flower spike of Common Broomrape (Orobanche minor) on East path @northcavewet.bsky.social. A parasitic plant that doesn’t go to all the bother of photosynthesis, it just taps into the roots of other plants and steals their energy!

Every summer we get Monotropa hypopitys growing on the same patch of forest floor on our property. This is a relatively uncommon parasitic plant without any chlorophyll. It gets its nutrients by leeching them from fungi! They’re pretty neat looking.

Now is out! Cui, M., Shi, D., Yamaji, M. et al. Integration of single nucleus RNA-seq and bulk RNA-seq reveals gene regulatory networks for vascular connection between parasitic plants and host plants. J Plant Res (2025). doi.org/10.1007/s102...

Tranquil and sunny Wharram Quarry with super-rare thistle broomrape and scores of orchids. The broomrape is a parasitic plant that lives on thistles and has no photosynthesis of its own - in the whole UK, it's only found at a handful of sites in Yorkshire. @yorkswildlife.bsky.social

Cancer-root (Conopholis alpina) emerging from the forest floor. This parasitic plant lives in the soil but pokes flower stalks above ground level to reproduce. Bears eat the stalks and thus spread the seeds. Photo taken in Las Huertas Canyon on May 18, 2025. #nature #naturephotography #flowers

Not as voracious as the holoparasites but intriguing anyway, and considered to be ecosystem engineers.

Aren't they cool!?

A new review on a.o the role of strigolactones in the interaction of plants with parasitic Orobanchaceae and microbiota.

The July IPPS online seminar will be about broomrapes: www.parasiticplants.org/2025/06/ipps...

...here is the link to the latest and all previous editions. Consider joining the IPPS @parasiticplants.bsky.social to support your scientific society: www.parasiticplants.org/haustorium/

Drawing your attention to this wonderful resource from the IPPS – the Haustorium Newsletter edited by Chris Parker – now in its 87th edition. Chris, who is a few years older than the number of this issue, reviewed recent publications on parasitic plants and commented briefly on most of them (>200).

What is this? Believe it or not, a plant in bloom! Conopholis americana goes by several common names (bear corn is my fave). As a parasitic plant, it lacks chlorophyll and does no photosynthesis. Rather, it connects to oak roots and thieves the resources it needs

#photography #canyon #nature It's a parasitic plant called dodder - boring name. Also known as devil's guts wizard's net. Much better. 😉

flowers of the parasitic plant *Orobanche uniflora*. It does not produce chlorophyll and takes all its nutrients from other plants

…and here is another article from the Haustorium 87 Newsletter written by @harrobouwmeester.bsky.social www.parasiticplants.org/2025/05/from...

Here is a snippet from the latest Haustorium Newsletter - the biannual newsletter on parasitic plants curated by Chris Parker. Follow the link to the IPPS webpage to download the latest issue. www.parasiticplants.org/2025/05/from...

Updated: "From Haustorium 87: Strigolactone transporter gene editing results in parasitic weed resistance in sorghum and tomato. The parasitic weed problem solved?" by IPPS Admin Preview: Jiayang Shi et al., 2025. Resistance to Striga… Source: https://www.parasiticplants.org/b/JfZ # parasiticplants

Updated: "From Haustorium 87: Strigolactone transporter gene editing results in parasitic weed resistance in sorghum and tomato. The parasitic weed problem solved?" by IPPS Admin Preview: Jiayang Shi et al., 2025. Resistance to Striga… Source: https://www.parasiticplants.org/b/JfZ # parasiticplants

That's pretty. Lathraea is one of my favourite parasitic plants! As a parasite of trees, it is not an easy model to work with.

Booked some camping trip to one of my favorite places. Time for parasitic plants! #FortTownsendStatePark #parasiticplants

#parasiticplants - mechanosensitive ion channels in Cuscuta campestris