This story began when the writer remembered The following: It was the Swedish botanist, Carl (Carolus) Linnaeus (1707-1778), the "Father of Taxonomy," who grouped similar plants (based upon methods of reproduction) into families and genus. This system was presented in his Species Plantarum in 1753. Each species was entitled to one adjective to describe it and to distinguish it from the other members of its genus and family.
His daughter, the lovely Elizabeth, reported that during a still evening she could discern eerie electric rays emanating from nasturtiums in the family gardens. And some people believed that Benjamin Franklin discovered the nature of electicity. The story is found at the very end of this "endless" and expanding flower trivia.
THe name, Linnaeus, comes from the large linden tree that grew on the family lands. It was Latinized as was Carl's name; this was the practice then among a certain level of personage.
The dodder vine is named for Johan Fredrik Gronovius as can be seen in the binomial: Cuscuta gronovii. Johan wrote Flora Virginia in the mid-1700s.
The seeds are carried away and planted where bird droppings land.The dodder takes root and sends up shoots that grow into climbing vines. It sends out suckers that attach to a host tree or bush from which it receives nourishment, for the dodder has no chlorophyll nor leaves to product food from sunlight.
Eventually the roots and lower portion of the host plant dry up and the dodder becomes a professional parasite. We could get involved in politics at this time we shall not venture in that direction.