Bidens leptocephala
Bidens discoidea
few-flower beggarticks
bident discoïde, discoid beggarticks, small beggar-ticks, swamp beggar-ticks
petioles 5–40 mm (usually hispido-ciliate);
blades rounded-deltate overall, 15–50+ × 12–40+ mm, 1–2-pinnatisect, ultimate lobes ovate or lanceolate to linear, 3–25+ × (1–)2–3(–15) mm, bases ± cuneate, ultimate margins entire, ciliolate, apices acute to attenuate, faces glabrous or hirtellous.
petioles 10–40(–60) mm;
blades deltate to lance-ovate overall, 30–80(–100+) × 10–30(–80+) mm, usually 3-foliolate, leaflets petiolulate, lance-ovate to lanceolate, (10–)20–50(–100) × 5–20(–40) mm, bases cuneate, ultimate margins usually serrate, sometimes ciliate, apices acuminate to attenuate, faces glabrous or hirtellous.
(10–)30–80+ mm.
10–20(–50+) mm.
± cylindric, 2–3(–4+) × 1.5–2+ mm.
± hemispheric, 4–5(–7) × 4–6(–9) mm.
0 or 2–3;
laminae yellowish or whitish, 1–3 mm.
0.
5–13;
corollas yellowish to whitish, 1.5–2 mm.
(10–)15–20+;
corollas ± orange, 1.5–2 mm.
4–5(–7), oblong to lanceolate, (2–)3–4+ mm.
5–7, oblong to lanceolate, 4–6+ mm.
of 3–4(–6) ± appressed, subulate to filiform bractlets 1–3 mm, margins ciliolate, abaxial faces usually glabrous.
of (3–)4(–5+) ± appressed, spatulate to linear, seldom foliaceous bractlets or bracts (3–)12–25 mm, margins seldom ciliate, abaxial faces usually glabrous.
usually borne singly, sometimes in open, ± corymbiform arrays.
usually borne singly, sometimes in 2s or 3s.
outer red-brown, flat or unequally 4-angled, linear, 6–8 mm, margins not ciliate, apices somewhat attenuate, faces obscurely 2-grooved, antrorsely hispidulous toward tips;
inner similar, blackish (sometimes with pale tips), ± equally 4-angled, linear-fusiform, 9–14 mm, margins not ciliate, apices attenuate, faces 2-grooved, antrorsely hispidulous (at least distally);
pappi of 2(–3), erect, retrorsely barbed awns 1–3 mm.
blackish to red-brown or stramineous, ± flattened, linear to narrowly cuneate, outer 3–5 mm, inner 4–6+ mm, margins not distinctly ciliate, apices ± truncate to concave, faces ± tuberculate, antrorsely strigillose;
pappi of 2 ± erect, antrorsely barbed or smooth awns (0.2–)1–2.4 mm.
= 24.
Bidens leptocephala
Bidens discoidea
Bidens discoidea is not nearly as variable morphologically as the closely related B. vulgata or B. frondosa. It differs from B. frondosa in having smaller heads, cypselae with shorter, antrorsely barbed awns, fewer phyllaries and flowers per head, sparse indument, and leaves with fewer, more acuminate leaflets. Both B. discoidea and B. frondosa differ from B. vulgata in texture of flowers, in heads, and in shapes and surfaces of cypselae (M. L. Roberts 1982, 1983; M. G. Hickler 1999).
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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