 Dodder ranges in severity based on its species and the species of the host, the time of attack, and whether any viruses are also present in the host plant.By debilitating the host plant, dodder decreases the ability of plants to resist viral diseases, and dodder can also spread plant diseases from one host to another if it is attached to more than one plant.This is of economic concern in agricultural systems, where an annual drop of 10% yield can be devastating.