I have been watching a thin orange filament wrap itself around and through one of my figs. It has little orange clusters that have now turned white and are beginning to show themselves as tiny white flowers. Armed with this information, I searched the internet and found that I have been invaded by Cuscuta, or dodder, a parasitic plant. The USDA says this parasite is present in all forty-eight contiguous states and Hawaii. I have never seen it before this summer. Can anyone suggest how harmful it is to fig trees?

I don't know how it may or may not affect your fig tree but have read about it as a supplement taken for various conditions.  It may be a gift to you from nature. :)

That Dodder is weird looking stuff. I've only seen it close to streams. We had some in the bottoms when I first moved here but it didn't come back the next year. Don't know how harmful it is for the plant but it doesn't seem like one of those invasive's that are hard to get rid of. I think it can be used as a dye too. It may well be a gift to you from nature.

It grows around here quite often and I like to look at it, however I dint think I would want it on a small or potted fig. If it was on a large tree I would enjoy watching it grow.

  If this is what we called "witches hair" in  So Cal, it turns bright orange when it dries. It wasnt known to harm anything.

If it is able to attach itself to the vascular system of them plant, it will weaken the immune system, I would take it off, it is an annual but will set seeds and grow again next year.  It is from the nightsahde family so I would suggest gloves and long sleeves while removing it.

Yuck!  I'd follow Chivas advice.  I've seen it here in So CA, but the main parasite we have is mistletoe, and it seems to prefer Sycamore and Oak trees.  Takes years, but it will kill them.

Suzi

Thanks for all the advice. I better get to it before it sets seed.

Here is something else I ran across about it.

There's no way I'd let that near a fig tree.  If you have a weedy patch they can be quite beautiful.  In London they have a specimen called 'The Artful Dodder'

Definitely kill it before it flowers.  ;)

Tom, Your link didn't work.

Bob, I decided that if it invades the plant tissue to support itself, it might be vector for disease. It got yanked, despite  looking pretty cool. It had already flowered, but I detected no ripe seed. I would like to see a large specimen. That would be a sight.

You're right! Lets try it this way.  http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/08/14/scientist-discovers-new-language-spoken-by-plants/  If clicking on it doesn't work you can copy and paste to get it to open

Tom,

   That's a great article. It implies that some varieties arise or some variations  in varieties arise do to mitochondrial RNA exchange.