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bident conné, purple-stem beggar-ticks, purplestem beggars-ticks, swamp beggar-ticks

Habit Annuals, (5–)25–150(–200) cm. Annuals, perennials, subshrubs, or shrubs, 10–400 cm (sometimes rhizomatous or with cormiform bases, stoloniferous in Coreopsis auriculata).
Leaves

sessile or petioles (± winged) 5–15(–35+) mm;

blades ± elliptic to lanceolate, (20–)40–100(–200+) × 10–30(–70) mm, sometimes laciniately 1-pinnatisect with 1–4+ lobes near bases, bases cuneate, margins entire or dentate to serrate, usually ciliate, apices attenuate, faces glabrous or hirtellous.

usually cauline (sometimes mostly basal); usually mostly opposite (distal sometimes alternate), rarely whorled; petiolate or sessile;

blades (often pinnately or palmately lobed, sometimes compound), or lobes or leaflets, mostly deltate, elliptic, filiform, lanceolate, linear, oblanceolate, or ovate, ultimate margins entire or toothed, faces usually glabrous or glabrate, sometimes hairy (rarely, if ever, gland-dotted).

Peduncles

10–35(–80) mm.

Involucres

campanulate to hemispheric or broader, (4–)6–12 × (3–)6–9(–15+) mm.

mostly campanulate, cylindric, turbinate, or hemispheric or broader.

Receptacles

mostly flat to convex, paleate (paleae often stramineous to white with red-brown to purplish striae, orbiculate to oblong or linear, ± flat to slightly cupped).

Ray florets

usually 0, sometimes 1–5+;

laminae yellowish, 4–8 mm.

0 or 1–21+ (more in cultivars), pistillate and fertile, or neuter, or styliferous and sterile;

corollas usually yellow to orange (sometimes bicolored: yellow to orange with brown, red-brown, or purple), sometimes cyanic or white.

Disc florets

(5–)20–40(–60+);

corollas pale yellow to orange, 2–3 mm (± abruptly ampliate, anthers usually dark, blackish).

3–150+, usually bisexual, fertile (functionally staminate in Dicranocarpus);

corollas usually yellow to orange, sometimes brown, red-brown, or purple, tubes usually shorter than, sometimes equaling funnelform throats (longer than throats in some Thelesperma spp.), lobes (3–)5, ± deltate to lance-ovate; (staminal filaments hairy in Cosmos) anther thecae pale or dark;

stigmatic papillae in 2 lines.

Phyllaries

(6–)8(–9), elliptic to oblong or ovate, (4–)5–6(–12) mm.

persistent, 3–34+ in ± 2 series (usually distinct, notably connate in Thelesperma), usually ± membranous, margins usually ± scarious.

Calyculi

of 2–6+ spreading or ascending, lanceolate, linear, oblanceolate, oblong, or spatulate, ± foliaceous bractlets or bracts 10–25(–35+) mm, margins (entire or serrate) usually ciliate, abaxial faces hispidulous near bases, distally glabrous.

usually of 3–8(–21+) bractlets or bracts (usually ± herbaceous, usually shorter than phyllaries and/or reflexed, sometimes ± foliaceous and surpassing phyllaries).

Heads

borne singly or in 2s or 3s.

radiate or discoid, borne singly or in ± corymbiform, cymiform, or paniculiform arrays.

Cypselae

blackish to purplish or brown, usually (at least inner) ± 4-angled, usually cuneate to linear, sometimes ± obpyramidal, outer (3–)4–7 mm, inner (4–)5–8 mm, margins proximally antrorsely to patently, distally retrorsely, barbed, apices ± truncate to concave, faces usually strongly 1-nerved, usually tuberculate, glabrous or setulose;

pappi 0, or of (1–)2–4(–6), ± erect to spreading, antrorsely or retrorsely barbed awns (0.2–)2–5 mm.

usually either obcompressed to obflattened, usually cuneate, linear, oblong, orbiculate, or ovate (bodies unequally 3–4-angled, margins often winged), or (all or inner) ± equally 4-angled and linear-fusiform, sometimes ± beaked, faces glabrous or hairy (often striate, tuberculate, or papillate);

pappi 0, or persistent, of (1–)2–4(–8), usually ± barbellate awns or scales, rarely coroniform or of 1–2, smooth to ciliate or barbed awns or scales.

2n

= 48.

Bidens connata

Asteraceae tribe Heliantheae subtribe Coreopsidinae

Phenology Flowering Aug–Oct.
Habitat Marshes and other wet sites
Elevation 10–1700 m (0–5600 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
CT; DE; GA; IA; IL; IN; KS; KY; MA; MD; ME; MI; MN; MO; MT; NC; ND; NE; NH; NJ; NY; OH; PA; RI; SC; SD; TN; VA; WI; WV; NB; NF; NS; ON; PE; QC; Europe; Asia; n Africa [Introduced in Pacific Islands, Australia]
[WildflowerSearch map]
Mostly subtropical and warm-temperate New World and Old World
Discussion

Bidens connata may be better treated as part of B. tripartita.

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

Genera 20, species 374 (7 genera, 69 species in the flora).

The circumscription of Coreopsidinae followed here (H. Robinson 1981) is a bit narrower than the traditional one. The subtribe is remarkable among Heliantheae for having a relatively high number of species native in subtropical and tropical Old World, especially Africa. Distinctions among some genera (e.g., Bidens, Coreopsis, and Cosmos) are often subtle.

In Coreopsidinae, each involucre is subtended by a calyculus of more or less herbaceous (sometimes leaflike) bractlets or bracts (sometimes surpassing the phyllaries). In keys and descriptions here, shapes, heights, and diameters given for involucres are based on the phyllaries collectively (exclusive of calyculi) at flowering; the involucres are sometimes notably larger in fruit.

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

Key
1. Phyllaries (excluding calyculi) 3–6 in 1(–2) series; disc florets 3–4+ (functionally staminate)
Dicranocarpus
1. Phyllaries (3–)8–34+ in ± 2 series; disc florets 3–10, 10–20, or (5–)12–150+ (bisexual, fertile)
→ 2
2. Phyllaries connate 1/5–7/8+ their lengths
Thelesperma
2. Phyllaries usually distinct, rarely connate ± 1/10 their lengths
→ 3
3. Cypselae (at least inner) ± 4-angled, ± linear-fusiform, often apically attenuate or beaked (none winged)
→ 4
3. Cypselae all ± obcompressed (sometimes winged)
→ 5
4. Disc florets 10–20 (staminal filaments hairy near anthers); cypselae usually with 1 groove on each face
Cosmos
4. Disc florets (5–)12–150+ (staminal filaments not hairy); cypselae with 0 or 2grooves on each face
Bidens
5. Annuals; ray florets 1–3 (laminae 1–2+ mm); cypselae mostly ellipsoid orobovoid (inner obovoid to obscurely urceolate, ± beaked)
Heterosperma
5. Annuals, perennials, subshrubs, or shrubs; ray florets usually 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, or 21+, sometimes 0 (laminae mostly 4–30+ mm); cypselae mostly cuneate, linear, oblanceolate, oblong, ± orbiculate, or ovate (not beaked).
→ 6
6. Cypselae rarely winged (margins sometimes thickened, winged in B. aristosa and B. polylepis); pappi usually of barbellate (rarely smooth) awns, sometimes 0
Bidens
6. Cypselae (some or all) usually thin-margined or ± winged; pappi usually 0, sometimes coroniform, or of 2 bristly cusps or scales (in Coreopsis), or of 1–2 retrorsely barbellate awns (in Coreocarpus)
→ 7
7. Ray florets usually neuter or styliferous and sterile; wings of cypselae membranous, chartaceous, or corky, entire or lobed to toothed, sometimes ciliate
Coreopsis
7. Ray florets usually pistillate and fertile; wings of cypselae ± corky, ± pectinately toothed
Coreocarpus
Source FNA vol. 21, p. 217. FNA vol. 21, p. 183.
Parent taxa Asteraceae > tribe Heliantheae > subtribe Coreopsidinae > Bidens Asteraceae > tribe Heliantheae
Sibling taxa
B. amplissima, B. aristosa, B. aurea, B. beckii, B. bidentoides, B. bigelovii, B. bipinnata, B. cernua, 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
Subordinate taxa
Bidens, Coreocarpus, Coreopsis, Cosmos, Dicranocarpus, Heterosperma, Thelesperma
Synonyms B. connata var. ambiversa, B. connata var. anomala, B. connata var. fallax, B. connata var. gracilipes, B. connata var. inundata, B. connata var. petiolata, B. connata var. pinnata, B. connata var. submutica subtribe Coreopsideae, subtribe Petrobiinae
Name authority Muhlenberg ex Willdenow: Sp. Pl. 3: 1718. (1803) Lessing: Linnaea 5: 153. (1830)
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