witchweed

Agricultural parasitic plant

Witchweed is a parasitic plant that attaches to the roots of crops like corn, sorghum, and millet, stealing nutrients and water.

Native to Africa, it causes devastating agricultural losses—plants may wither and die before the witchweed even emerges above ground.

The name reflects how crops seem cursed, dying from an invisible cause: The field was infested with witchweed.

weeds

dodder

Shake while walking

broomrapeParasitic flowering plant
mistletoeParasitic festive greenery
kudzuAggressive Asian climbing plant

nutsedge · strangleweed

invasive

infestation

Pest takeover situation

spreadTo distribute widely
quarantineIsolation preventing disease transmission
eradicationTotal elimination of something

biocontrol · management · outcompete · seedbank · persistent · Africa · Asia · containment · USDA · regulated

parasitic

host

One receiving guests

attachmentConnection or fondness
sorghumWarm-climate cereal grass
milletSmall-seeded food crop

maize · sugarcane · rice · legumes · stunting · wilting · chlorosis · dependency · obligate · hemiparasite

botanical

herbaceous

Having soft green stems

annualOccurring every year
floweringProducing reproductive structures
angiospermPlant producing flowers, fruits

seedling · germination · Orobanchaceae · emergence · lifecycle · tropical · subtropical · grassland

Opposites

plant nutritional strategy

witchweedautotroph

Self-nourishing organism

host plant · legume · corn · sorghum

agricultural impact

witchweedcash crop

Produce grown for sale

food crop · staple crop · cover crop

Family

witch, weed, weeds, witchcraft, weedy, bewitch, bewitched, bewitching, weedier

Familiarity: Top 1,000,000
Profile: Used worldwide · Timeless · Concrete · Rated G