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bur-marigold, smooth beggar-ticks, smooth beggartick

bearded beggarticks, long-bract beggar-ticks, midwestern beggar-ticks, tickseed sunflower

Habit Annuals (sometimes persisting), (10–)20–60(–120+) cm. Annuals, (15–)30–60(–150) cm.
Leaves

(sometimes in 3s or 4s) sessile;

blades obovate or elliptic to lanceolate or linear, (20–)50–100(–160+) × (5–)10–25(–40+) mm, bases cuneate to rounded, margins usually coarsely dentate to serrate, sometimes ciliate, apices acute to acuminate, faces glabrous.

petioles 10–30 mm;

blades lanceolate to lance-linear overall, 30–80(–150) × 10–30(–50) mm, usually laciniately pinnatisect, primary lobes 3–7+, 15–60+ × 2–20 mm, bases cuneate, ultimate margins laciniate to serrate, ciliate, apices acuminate, faces glabrous or sparsely scabrellous.

Peduncles

(10–)20–60 mm.

(10–)30–80+ mm.

Involucres

turbinate to hemispheric or broader, (4–)6–8(–10+) × 8–12+ mm.

± hemispheric or broader, 6–8(–12) × 10–15 mm.

Ray florets

usually 7–8, rarely 0;

laminae orange-yellow, (10–)15–25(–30) mm.

(5–)8–10+;

laminae yellow, 10–25 mm.

Disc florets

(25–)60–100(–150+);

corollas yellow to orange-yellow, 3–6.5 mm.

(12–)20–40+;

corollas yellowish, 2–3+ mm.

Phyllaries

8–12, ovate or obovate to lance-oblong, (4–)6–8(–10+) mm (tips often orange to purplish, as are tips of paleae).

7–8(–13), lance-ovate to lance-linear, 6–8(–12) mm.

Calyculi

of 5–7(–9+) erect or spreading to reflexed, oblanceolate or lanceolate to linear, often foliaceous bractlets or bracts (6–)10–12(–20+) mm, margins usually ciliate, abaxial faces glabrous or bases hispidulous.

of 8–12(–16) usually spreading to reflexed, linear, seldom foliaceous bractlets (4–)5–7(–12) mm, margins entire, ciliate, abaxial faces glabrous or ± scabrellous.

Heads

(erect at flowering, sometimes nodding in fruit) borne singly or in open, ± corymbiform arrays.

in ± corymbiform arrays.

Cypselae

blackish, red-brown, or stramineous, obcompressed, flattened or unequally 3–4-angled, ± cuneate, outer 6–8 mm, inner 8–10 mm, margins retrorsely ciliate or barbed, apices ± truncate to convex, faces ± 1-nerved, ± striate, glabrous;

pappi of 2–4 ± erect, retrorsely barbed awns 3–5 mm.

red-brown to blackish, ± flattened (unequally 3–4-angled), broadly cuneate, outer (4–)5–6 mm, inner 5–7 mm (lengths mostly 1.5–2.5 times widths), margins (± corky-winged) patently to antrorsely barbed, apices truncate to concave, faces weakly striate, sometimes tuberculate, glabrous or sparsely strigillose;

pappi 0, or of 2(–4) spreading to divergent, antrorsely or retrorsely barbed awns (0.5–)2–4(–6) mm.

2n

= 22, 24.

Bidens laevis

Bidens aristosa

Phenology Flowering Aug–Oct(–Dec). Flowering Aug–Oct(–Nov).
Habitat Meadows, marshes, and margins of pools, streams, estuaries Marshes, meadows, pine forests, disturbed sites
Elevation 0–2800 m (0–9200 ft) 0–300 m (0–1000 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AL; AR; AZ; CA; CO; CT; DC; DE; FL; GA; IN; KY; LA; MA; MD; ME; MO; MS; NC; NH; NJ; NM; NV; NY; OH; PA; RI; SC; TN; TX; VA; WV; Mexico; Central America; South America [Introduced Pacific Islands (Hawaii)]
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AL; AR; DC; IL; IN; KY; LA; MD; MI; MN; MO; NC; SC; TN; TX; VA; ON
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Bidens laevis and B. cernua are similar in gross appearance; specimens of one are sometimes misidentified as the other. Perhaps they represent extremes of a single species.

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

Source FNA vol. 21, p. 215. FNA vol. 21, p. 214.
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. bipinnata, B. cernua, B. connata, B. discoidea, B. eatonii, B. frondosa, B. heterodoxa, B. heterosperma, B. hyperborea, B. lemmonii, B. leptocephala, B. mitis, B. pilosa, B. polylepis, B. tenuisecta, B. trichosperma, B. tripartita, B. vulgata
B. amplissima, B. aurea, B. beckii, B. bidentoides, B. bigelovii, B. bipinnata, 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
Synonyms Helianthus laevis, B. chrysanthemoides, B. helianthoides, B. nashii, B. quadriaristata Coreopsis aristosa, B. aristosa var. fritcheyi, B. aristosa var. mutica
Name authority (Linnaeus) Britton: Prelim. Cat., 29. (1888) (Michaux) Britton: Bull Torrey Bot. Club 20: 281. (1893)
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