A dodder plant begins its life looking like a tapeworm. The tiny plant, which will never grow leaves or roots, elongates in a spindly spiral. Round and round it swirls, searching for a host plant.

Plants may not seem like they live the most exciting lives, but two new papers published this week point to different types ...

Jim Westwood, professor of plant pathology, physiology, and weed science, examines dodder, a parasitic plant with a covert weaponry system. Research at Virginia Tech and Penn State that has revealed ...

A parasitic plant with potentially poisonous berries might not sound like something that would boost your Christmas decorations to the next level. But, botanically speaking, that’s what mistletoe is.

A new study has uncovered the complex genetic interaction between root-knot nematodes and tomato plants, revealing how these microscopic parasites manipulate plant genomes to induce gall formation. By ...

Parasites abound throughout the natural world. While not all of them cause the host's death, this newly discovered parasitic ciliate dissolves and destroys common West Coast crabs. According to the ...

The world’s only wild black-furred rabbit has a very important job — distributing seeds for a parasitic plant. By Jason Bittel On the Amami Islands of Japan, wonder blooms from a nibble and some ...