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bur-marigold, smooth beggar-ticks, smooth beggartick

delmarva beggarticks

Habit Annuals (sometimes persisting), (10–)20–60(–120+) cm. Annuals, 10–90+ 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 10–25 mm;

blades lanceolate to lance-linear, 40–160 × 3–30+ mm, bases cuneate, margins entire or laciniate to serrate or denticulate, minutely, if at all, ciliate, apices acuminate to attenuate, faces glabrous.

Peduncles

(10–)20–60 mm.

10–30(–60+) mm.

Involucres

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

narrowly campanulate to cylindric, 9–16 × 5–8(–12) mm.

Ray florets

usually 7–8, rarely 0;

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

usually 0, sometimes 3–5+;

laminae yellowish, 2–10 mm.

Disc florets

(25–)60–100(–150+);

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

6–20(–30+);

corollas yellowish, 3–6 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).

4–8+, ± oblong, 9–16 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 3–5 usually spreading, narrowly lanceolate to oblanceolate, sometimes foliaceous bractlets or bracts 10–30(–60) mm, margins entire, usually ciliate, abaxial faces usually glabrous.

Heads

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

usually borne singly, sometimes in open, ± 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, flattened, sometimes weakly 4-angled, narrowly cuneate to linear, outer 6–10 mm, inner 8–13 mm, margins evenly antrorsely strigillose, apices truncate, faces smooth or ± striate, ± evenly antrorsely strigillose;

pappi of 2(–4) erect to spreading, antrorsely barbed awns (2–)3–9 mm.

2n

= 22, 24.

Bidens laevis

Bidens bidentoides

Phenology Flowering Aug–Oct(–Dec). Flowering Sep.
Habitat Meadows, marshes, and margins of pools, streams, estuaries Borders of streams, estuaries
Elevation 0–2800 m (0–9200 ft) 0–10+ m (0–0+ 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
DE; MD; NJ; NY; PA
[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. 216.
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. aristosa, B. aurea, B. beckii, 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 Diodonta bidentoides, B. bidentoides var. mariana, B. mariana
Name authority (Linnaeus) Britton: Prelim. Cat., 29. (1888) (Nuttall) Britton: Bull Torrey Bot. Club 20: 281. (1893)
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