Alien Weed & native blue aster

Yes, that is dodder (cuscuta) aka love-vine, strangleweed, and hellbind. 
Someone sent a picture of a clumb of blue asters and I responded that it
was invasive when in good soil.   When Sterling asked about the dodder, it
prompted my memory - that was the reason I had to dig up my aster instead
of because it was taking over the flower bed.  The asters were a fairly
large clump and were gorgeous at this time of year so I will probably get
another start of them.  

Now back to the dodder.  It is an annual whose seeds mature in August and
sprout in the spring.  The tendril then searches for a host plant. Once it
has attached itself to a plant, its contact with the ground withers up and
disappears. It attacks annuals, perennials and vines.  It will regrow from
the tiniest piece left to the host plant.  It is useless to attempt to
disentangle the dodder plant from the plant it has attacked.    The only
sure way is to dig up the host plant or the portion of the plant it has
attacked and BURN it immediately.  It can be eradicated with 2,4-D, but
this will also usually kill the host plant (America's Garden Book by James
and Louise Bush-Brown).

Mickey
Bethany, OK - Center of Oklahoma, USA
Zone 6/7                

Message text written by INTERNET:iris-photos@yahoogroups.com
>Hi there,

Can anyone tell me what this is? It appeared this
summer on my variegated aquilegia and I can't seem to
get rid of it. It's like a rubbery orange string with
no leaves that entwines itself on the stems of the
plant. It has really tiny white ball-like flowers that
look like berries. I tried pulling it off and it came
back. I can't seem to find where it's coming out of
the ground. Any help is appreciated.

Sterling
Seattle, WA. USA 
Zone 8<

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