dodder; a genus of the digynia order, belonging to the triandra clas of plants. There are two species; one of which is a native of Britain, viz. the Europæa, dodder, hell-weed, or devil's-guts. This is a very singular plant, almost destitute of leaves, parasitical, creeping, fixing itself to whatever is next to it. It decays at the root, and afterwards is nourished by the plant which supports it. Hops, flax, and nettles, are its common support; but principally the common nettle. Its blossoms are white. As soon as the shoots have twined about an adjacent plant, they send out from their inner surface a number of little vesicles or papillæ, which attach themselves to the bark or rind of the plant. By degrees the longitudinal vessels of the stalk, which appear to have accompanied the vesicles, shoot from their extremities, and make their way into the softer plant, by dividing the vessels and infusing themselves into the tenderest part of the stalk; and so intimately are they united with it, that it is easier to break than to disengage them from it. The whole plant is bitter. It affords a pale reddish colour. Cow, sheep, and swine, eat it; horses refuse it; goats are not fond of it.