Devil's Beggarticks
Bidens frondosa
The genus name 'Bidens' comes from Latin meaning 'two-toothed', referring to the two sharp prongs on its seeds that act like tiny anchors.
- Scientific name
- Bidens frondosa
- Taxonomy
- Plantae › Tracheophyta › Magnoliopsida › Asterales › Asteraceae › Bidens
- IUCN Red List status
- Least Concern
- Population trend
- stable
- Biome
- wetland
- Habitat
- Wet meadows, marshes, pond margins, ditches, and disturbed damp soils.
- Diet
- Autotrophic (photosynthesis requiring sunlight, water, and soil nutrients).
- Range
- North America, Europe, Asia, New Zealand
- Size
- 20 to 120 cm (8 to 48 inches) tall
- Lifespan
- 1 year (annual plant)
- Active
- diurnal
- Threats
- Habitat destruction of wetlands, though it adapts exceptionally well to human-disturbed areas and faces no major threats.
- Safe to approach?
- Harmless. The barbed seeds (burrs) will readily cling to clothing, shoelaces, and animal fur to hitchhike to new locations. Safe to approach and touch. If seeds stick to you, simply pick them off and discard them, preferably in an area where you don't mind them growing.
Bidens frondosa is a North American species of flowering plant in the aster family, sunflower family. It is widespread across much of Canada, the United States, and Mexico It is known in many other parts of the world as an introduced species, including Europe, Asia, Morocco, and New Zealand. Its many common names include devil's beggarticks , devil's-pitchfork , devil's bootjack , sticktights , bur marigold , pitchfork weed , tickseed sunflower , leafy beggarticks , and common beggar-ticks .
Photo: Douglas Goldman, CC-BY-SA, via iNaturalist
Plain-text version: /species/56ced933-3ca5-4b52-8648-fe486c89e44e.md