Parasitism in plants- e.g Dodder

• In plants a distinction is made between holoparasites and hemiparasites
• Holoparasites (real parasites)

  • have no chlorophyll
  • cannot photosynthesise to produce their own food
  • are dependent on their host for food, including water, mineral salts and organic nutrients
• Hemiparasites

  • have chlorophyll
  • can photosynthesise to product their own organic food
  • are only partially dependent on their host for their food, i.e water and mineral salts