Tickseed Beggarticks

Tickseed Beggarticks, Western Beggarticks, Bearded Beggarticks, Swamp Marigold

Bidens aristosa (Michx.) Britton

Asteraceae (Sunflower Family)

▲ ▼ mature, flowering plants

▲ ▼ stems and leaves

▲ ▼ inflorescences

▲ flowers with painted lady butterfly and soldier beetle

Bidens aristosa (Michx.) Britton, Bearded Beggarticks, Tickseed Beggarticks, Western Beggarticks, Swamp Marigold: (Bayer Code: BIDAR; US Code BIAR)

Native summer annual that grows 1-4 feet tall often with purplish, four-sided stem
Has opposite, pinnately compound leaves with lanceolate to linear toothed leaflets
Flowers heads have yellow disk flowers, with 5-8 ray flowers and 20-80 yellow disk flowers; heads held upright in flower and during maturation
Seed is short and slenderly wedge-shaped, with two barbs attached to tip that let it attach to passing animals
Found in pastures, prairies, open woods, wet soils near ponds, lakes, streams, rivers
Some similar species:
- Devil’s Beggarticks (Bidens frondosa) has pinnately-compound leaves with toothed, lanceolate leaflets, flowers lack ray flowers and the burs are short and attached to a triangular seed
- Spanish Needles (Bidens bipinnata) has finely-divided (bipinnately compound) leaves, 1-5 very short (0.25 inch) ray flowers (petals) per head and long, slender, needle-like seeds with burs at their tip
- Nodding Beggarticks (Bidens cernua) has simple lanceolate leaves with toothed, lanceolate leaflets, 6-8 ray showy flowers (petals) per head and burs and seeds similar to devil’s beggarticks
- Swamp Beggarticks (Bidens tripartita) has simple lanceolate leaves with toothed margins, sometimes with 3 deep lobes; flowers lack ray flowers; it often grows in wet soils near ponds, lakes, rivers

(Posted January 19, 2019)

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