Parasitism is a relationship where one organism lives on or inside another organism and benefits from it, while harming it in the process. In the case of the dodder plant, you can describe parasitism like this:

  • The dodder is the parasite: it wraps around the host plant’s stem.
  • It pushes in small sucking structures (haustoria) that tap into the host’s tissues.
  • Through these, it steals water and nutrients from the host instead of making its own food.
  • The host plant is weakened, grows poorly, and may even die, while the dodder gains all the benefit.

So, looking at that image, you could say:

Parasitism is an interaction in which one organism (the parasite) depends on another organism (the host) for food or resources, gaining benefit while harming the host, like a dodder plant wrapping around and feeding off another plant.