Bidens Totally Explained

Everything about Bidens totally explained

Bidens is a genusin the family Asteraceae. It contains about 200 species. The common names beggarticks, bur-marigolds, stickseeds, tickseeds and tickseed sunflowers refer to the achene burrs on the seeds of this genus, most of which are barbed. The generic name refers the same fact; it means "two-tooth", from Latin bis "two" + dens "tooth". The plants are zoochorous; their seeds will stick to clothing, fur or feathers, and be carried to new habitat. This has enabled them to colonize a wide range, including many oceanic islands. Some of these species occur only in a very restricted range and several are now threatened with extinction, notably in the Hawaiian Islands. Due to the absence of native mammals on these islands, some of the oceanic island taxa have reduced burrs, evolving features that seem to aid in dispersal by the wind instead. Smooth Beggarticks (B. laevis) is a common fall flower in the southeastern USA. Pitchfork Weed (B. frondosa) is considered to be a weed in New Zealand, although it isn't officially declared an invasive species. On the Hawaiian Islands, Bidens are called kokoʻolau or koʻokoʻolau. They were and still are used to brew a refreshing tea. In some regions, leaves of Hairy Beggarticks (B. pilosa) and Three-lobed Beggarticks (B. tripartita) are sometimes eaten as a vegetable. Nodding Beggarticks (B. cernua) and Hairy Beggarticks are useful as honey plants. Several Bidens species are used as food by the caterpillars of certain Lepidoptera, such as the noctuid moth Hypercompe hambletoni and the Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui, a brush-footed butterfly). The plant pathogen Bidens mottle virus was named after the present genus, as it was first isolated from Hairy Beggarticks; it infects a wide range of Asteraceae and other plants.

Selected species

Bidens alba (L.) DC. – Romerillo
Bidens amplectens – Waiʻanae Kokoʻolau
Bidens amplissima Greene – Vancouver Island Beggarticks
Bidens aristosa (Michx.) Britt. – Bearded Beggarticks, Long-bracted Beggarticks, Tickseed Beggarticks, Western Tickseed
Bidens asymmetrica (Levl.) Sherff – Koʻolau Kokoʻolau
Bidens aurea (Ait.) Sherff – Arizona Beggarticks
Bidens bidentoides (Nutt.) Britt. – Delmarva Beggarticks
Bidens bigelovii Gray – Bigelow's Beggarticks
Bidens bipinnata L. – Spanish Needles
Bidens campylotheca – Viper Beggarticks
Bidens cernua L. (syn. B. glaucescens Greene) – Nodding Beggarticks, Nodding Bur-marigold
Bidens cervicata Sherff – Kauaʻi Beggarticks
Bidens conjuncta – Bog Beggarticks
Bidens connata Muhl. ex Willd. – Purple-stemmed Beggarticks, Purple-stemmed Swamp Beggarticks, Connate Beggarticks, London Bur-marigold, Southern Tickseed
Bidens coronata (L.) Britt. – Crowned Beggarticks
Bidens cosmoides – Cosmosflower Beggarticks, poʻola nui
Bidens cuneata Sherff – Cuneate Bidens, Wedge Beggarticks
Bidens cynapiifolia Kunth – West Indian Beggarticks
Bidens discoidea (Torr. & Gray) Britt. – Discoid Beggarticks, Small Beggarticks, Swamp Beggarticks, Few-bracted Beggarticks
Bidens eatonii Fern. – Eaton's Beggarticks
Bidens ferulifolia (Jacq.) DC. – Apache Beggarticks, Fern-leaved Beggarticks
Bidens forbesii Sherff – Coastalbluff Beggarticks
Bidens frondosa – Devil's Beggarticks, Large-leaved Beggarticks, Common Beggarticks, Common Tickseed, Devil's Bootjack, Devil's Pitchfork, Pitchfork Weed
Bidens gardneri Baker – Ridge Beggarticks
Bidens hawaiensis Gray – Hawaiʻi Beggarticks
Bidens heterodoxa (Fern.) Fern. & St. John – Connecticut Beggarticks
Bidens heterosperma Gray – Rocky Mountain Beggarticks
Bidens hillebrandiana (Drake) O. Deg. – Seacliff Beggarticks
Bidens hyperborea Greene – Estuary Beggarticks, Coastal Beggarticks, Northern Estuarine Beggarticks, Seacliff Beggarticks
Bidens laevis (L.) B.S.P. – Smooth Beggarticks, Smooth Bur-marigold, Larger Bur-marigold
Bidens lemmonii Gray – Lemmon's Beggarticks
Bidens leptocephala Sherff – Few-flowered Beggarticks
Bidens macrocarpa (Gray) Sherff – Large-fruited Beggarticks
Bidens mannii
Bidens mauiensis (Gray) Sherff – Maui Beggarticks
Bidens menziesii (Gray) Sherff – Mauna Loa Beggarticks
Bidens micrantha Gaud. – Grassland Beggarticks
- Bidens micrantha ssp. kalealaha – Kalealaha Beggarticks
Bidens mitis (Michx.) Sherff – Small-fruited Beggarticks
Bidens molokaiensis – Molokaʻi Beggarticks
Bidens × multiceps Fassett
Bidens pilosa – Hairy Beggarticks
Bidens polylepis Blake – Awnless Beggarticks
Bidens populifolia – Oʻahu Beggarticks, Poplar-leaved Bidens
Bidens reptans (L.) G. Don – Manzanilla Trepador
Bidens sandvicensis Less. – Shrubland Beggarticks
Bidens schimperi Sch. Bip.
Bidens simplicifolia
Bidens socorrensis
Bidens squarrosa Kunth
Bidens tenuisecta Gray – Slim-lobed Beggarticks
Bidens torta Sherff – Corkscrew Beggarticks
Bidens tripartita (syn B. acuta, B. comosa) – Three-lobed Beggarticks, Three-part Beggarticks, Leafy-bracted Beggarticks, Trifid Bur-marigold
Bidens triplinervia
- Bidens triplinervia var. macrantha
Bidens valida Sherff – Kahili Beggarticks
Bidens vulgata Greene – Big Devil's Beggarticks, Tall Beggarticks, Tall Bur-marigold, Western Sticktight
Bidens wiebkei – Wiebke's Beggarticks, Molokaʻi Koʻokoʻolau

Footnotes

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