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Spanish needles, Spanish needles beggar-ticks

bident feuillu, common beggarticks, devil's beggar-ticks, devil's beggartick, devil's pitchfork, leafy beggar-ticks, leafy beggars-ticks, sticktight

Habit Annuals, (15–)30–100(–150+) cm. Annuals, (10–)20–60(–180) cm.
Leaves

petioles 20–50 mm;

blades rounded-deltate to ovate or lanceolate overall, (20–)30–70+ × (20–)30–60+ mm, (1–)2(–3)-pinnatisect, ultimate lobes obovate or lanceolate, 15–45+ × 10–25+ mm, bases truncate to cuneate, ultimate margins entire, sometimes ciliolate, apices rounded to acute or attenuate, faces usually glabrous, sometimes hirtellous.

petioles 10–40(–60) mm;

blades deltate to lance-ovate overall, 30–80(–150+) × 20–60(–100+) mm, 3(–5)-foliolate, leaflets petiolulate, lanceolate to lance-ovate, (15–)35–60(–120) × (5–)10–20(–30) mm, bases cuneate, margins dentate to serrate, sometimes ciliate, apices acuminate to attenuate, faces glabrous or hirtellous.

Peduncles

(10–)20–50(–100) mm.

10–40(–80+) mm.

Involucres

± campanulate, 5–7 × 3–4(–5) mm.

campanulate to hemispheric or broader, 6–9 × 7–12 mm.

Ray florets

0 or 3–5+;

laminae yellowish or whitish, 1–2(–3) mm.

0 or 1–3+;

laminae golden yellow, 2–3.5 mm.

Disc florets

10–20(–30+);

corollas yellowish to whitish, 2–3 mm.

20–60(–120+);

corollas ± orange, 2.5–3+ mm.

Phyllaries

8–12, lanceolate to linear, 4–6 mm.

6–12, oblong or ovate to lance-ovate, 5–9 mm.

Calyculi

of (7–)8(–10) linear bractlets 3–5 mm, ± appressed, margins ciliate, abaxial faces usually glabrous.

of (5–)8(–10) ascending to spreading, spatulate or oblanceolate to linear, sometimes ± foliaceous bractlets or bracts 5–20(–60) mm, margins usually ciliate, abaxial faces glabrous or hirtellous.

Heads

usually borne singly, sometimes in ± corymbiform arrays.

usually borne singly, sometimes in 2s or 3s or in open, corymbiform arrays.

Cypselae

red-brown, outer weakly obcompressed, 7–15 mm, inner ± 4-angled, linear to linear-fusiform, 12–18 mm, margins not ciliate, apices ± attenuate, faces 2-grooved, often tuberculate-hispidulous;

pappi of (2–)3–4, erect to divergent, retrorsely barbed awns 2–4 mm.

blackish to brown or stramineous, ± obcompressed, obovate to cuneate, outer 5–7 mm, inner 7–10 mm, margins antrorsely or retrorsely barbed, apices ± truncate to concave, faces usually 1-nerved, sometimes tuberculate, glabrous or sparsely hirtellous;

pappi of 2 ± erect to spreading, antrorsely or retrorsely barbed awns 2–5 mm.

2n

= 24, 72.

= 24, 48, 72.

Bidens bipinnata

Bidens frondosa

Phenology Flowering (Jun–)Aug–Sep(–Oct). Flowering (Jun–)Aug–Sep(–Oct).
Habitat Fields, forests, disturbed, wettish sites Moist woods, meadows, thickets, fields, roadsides, railroads, borders of streams, ponds, sloughs, swamps, ditches
Elevation 10–1800 m (0–5900 ft) 10–2000 m (0–6600 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AL; AR; AZ; CT; DC; FL; GA; IA; IL; IN; KS; KY; LA; MD; MO; MS; NC; NE; NJ; NM; NY; OH; OK; PA; RI; SC; TN; TX; VA; WV; NB; ON; South America; Europe; Asia; Pacific Islands
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AK; AL; AR; AZ; CA; CO; CT; DC; DE; FL; GA; IA; ID; IL; IN; KS; KY; LA; MA; MD; ME; MI; MN; MO; MS; NC; ND; NE; NH; NJ; NM; NV; NY; OH; OK; OR; PA; RI; SC; SD; TN; TX; UT; VA; VT; WA; WI; WV; WY; AB; BC; MB; NB; NF; NS; ON; PE; QC; SK; Mexico [Introduced, Europe]
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Bidens bipinnata is probably native in eastern Asia and introduced in South America, Europe, Asia, and Pacific Islands.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Infusions and tinctures of Bidens frondosa are rated as outstanding herbal therapies for irritation, inflammation, pain, and bleeding of the urinary tract mucosa and are used for benign prostatic hypertrophy and increasing excretion of uric acid, decreasing the risk of gout attacks, as well as other medical uses (M. Moore 1993).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Source FNA vol. 21, p. 210. FNA vol. 21, p. 212.
Parent taxa Asteraceae > tribe Heliantheae > subtribe Coreopsidinae > Bidens Asteraceae > tribe Heliantheae > subtribe Coreopsidinae > Bidens
Sibling taxa
B. amplissima, B. aristosa, B. aurea, B. beckii, B. bidentoides, B. bigelovii, B. cernua, B. connata, B. discoidea, B. eatonii, B. frondosa, B. heterodoxa, B. heterosperma, B. hyperborea, B. laevis, B. lemmonii, B. leptocephala, B. mitis, B. pilosa, B. polylepis, B. tenuisecta, B. trichosperma, B. tripartita, B. vulgata
B. amplissima, B. aristosa, B. aurea, B. beckii, B. bidentoides, B. bigelovii, B. bipinnata, B. cernua, B. connata, B. discoidea, B. eatonii, B. heterodoxa, B. heterosperma, B. hyperborea, B. laevis, B. lemmonii, B. leptocephala, B. mitis, B. pilosa, B. polylepis, B. tenuisecta, B. trichosperma, B. tripartita, B. vulgata
Synonyms B. bipinnata var. biternatoides B. frondosa var. anomala, B. frondosa var. caudata, B. frondosa var. pallida, B. frondosa var. stenodonta, B. melanocarpa
Name authority Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 2: 832. (1753) Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 2: 832. (1753)
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