Bidens pilosa
Bidens laevis
bident poilu, cobbler's pegs, common beggar-ticks, hairy beggar-ticks, Spanish needle
bur-marigold, smooth beggar-ticks, smooth beggartick
petioles 10–30(–70) mm;
blades either ovate to lanceolate, 30–70(–120) × 12–18(–45) mm, or 1-pinnately lobed, primary lobes 3–7, ovate to lanceolate [linear], (10–)25–80+ × (5–)10–40+ mm [blades 2(–3)-pinnatisect], bases truncate to cuneate, ultimate margins serrate or entire, usually ciliate, apices acute to attenuate, faces pilosulous to sparsely hirtellous or glabrate.
(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.
10–20(–90) mm.
(10–)20–60 mm.
turbinate to campanulate, 5–6 × (6–)7–8 mm.
turbinate to hemispheric or broader, (4–)6–8(–10+) × 8–12+ mm.
0 or (3–)5–8+;
laminae whitish to pinkish [yellowish], 2–3 or 7–15+ mm.
usually 7–8, rarely 0;
laminae orange-yellow, (10–)15–25(–30) mm.
20–40(–80+);
corollas yellowish, (2–)3–5 mm.
(25–)60–100(–150+);
corollas yellow to orange-yellow, 3–6.5 mm.
(7–)8–9(–13), lanceolate to oblanceolate, 4–6 mm.
8–12, ovate or obovate to lance-oblong, (4–)6–8(–10+) mm (tips often orange to purplish, as are tips of paleae).
(6–)7–9(–13) ± appressed, spatulate to linear bractlets (3–)4–5 mm, margins ciliate, abaxial faces usually hispidulous to puberulent.
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.
usually borne singly, sometimes in open, ± corymbiform arrays.
(erect at flowering, sometimes nodding in fruit) borne singly or in open, ± corymbiform arrays.
outer red-brown, ± flat, linear to narrowly cuneate, (3–)4–5+ mm, margins antrorsely hispidulous, apices ± truncate or somewhat attenuate, faces obscurely 2-grooved, sometimes tuberculate-hispidulous;
inner blackish, ± equally 4-angled, linear-fusiform, 7–16 mm, margins antrorsely hispidulous, apices ± attenuate, faces 2-grooved, tuberculate-hispidulous to sparsely strigillose;
pappi 0, or of 2–3(–5), erect to divergent, retrorsely barbed awns (0.5–)2–4 mm.
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.
= 24, 36, 48, 72.
= 22, 24.
Bidens pilosa
Bidens laevis
R. Ballard (1986) adopted a narrower circumscription of Bidens pilosa than that used here. He used: B. pilosa for plants with outer phyllaries 7–10, ray florets usually 0 (when present, laminae 2–3 mm), disc florets 35–75, pappi of 3(–5) awns 1–3 mm, and 2n = 72; B. alba for plants with outer phyllaries (8–)12(–16), ray florets 5–8 (laminae 5–16 mm), pappi of 2 awns 1–2 mm, and 2n = 48; and B. odorata for plants with outer phyllaries (6–)8(–12), ray florets 5–8 (laminae 3–18 mm), disc florets 12–61, pappi 0, or of 1–2 awns 1–3 mm, and 2n = 24.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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.)
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