Bidens frondosa (Devil’s Beggartick)

Bidens frondosa

Bidens frondosa L.

Bidens frondosa L. var. anomala Porter ex Fernald

Bidens frondosa L. var. caudata Sherff

Bidens frondosa L. var. pallida Wiegand

Bidens frondosa L. var. stenodonta Fernald & H. St. John

Devil’s Beggartick, Devil’s-pitchfork, Devil’s Bootjack, Sticktights, Bur Marigold, Pitchfork Weed, Tickseed Sunflower, Leafy Beggarticks, Common Beggar-ticks

Kingdom	Plantae	Plants, but not fungi, lichens, or algae
Subkingdom	Tracheobionta	Vascular plants—plants with a “circulatory system” for delivering water and nutrients
Division	Magnoliophyta	Flowering plants, also known as angiosperms
Class	Magnoliopsida	Dicotyledons—plants with two initial seed leaves
Subclass	Asteridae	A large class that encompasses asters
Order	Asterales	Flowering plants with a central disk flower and surrounding petals, like daisies
Family	Asteraceae	The aster family, which also includes daisies and sunflowers; from the Greek ἀστήρ, “star,” for the star-shaped flowers
Genus	Bidens	From Latin bis, “twice,” and dens, “tooth,” for the pair of bristles on the achenes
Species	frondosa	“Leafy”

About plant names...

These widespread North American native plants have all kinds of colorful common names that relate to the small fork-shaped seeds, which readily hitch rides on passers-by.

Identification: Plants are 12-36" (30-91 cm) high, rarely up to 6' (1.8 m). Stems are square in cross-section, nearly hairless, and light green, reddish green, or purple. Lower leaves are odd pinnate clusters on long petioles, in opposite pairs; upper leaves may be alternate. Leaves are up to 3" (7.6 cm) × 1" (2.5 cm), coarsely toothed, deltate or lanceolate. Composite flowers are typically composed of 20-60 orange-yellow disc florets about ⅜-½" (9.5-12 mm) around, and sometimes a few yellow rays, each ¹/₁₆-⅛" (2-3.5 mm) long. They are encompassed in 6-10 phyllaries, like a rosette of small leaves. The flowers look sort of scraggly and unimpressive to me. Flowers occur in groups of one or up to 12, appearing from late summer to early fall. The seeds or achenes are shaped like a narrow triangle, with two barbed fork tips that attach to fur or clothes. The seeds are also distributed by the wind.

Edibility: Cooked young leaves and stems are edible.

Medical: Infusions made from this species are used to treat several urinary tract problems, as well as to reduce recurrences of gout by increasing excretion of uric acid.

Online References:

Bidens frondosa at Illinois Wildflowers

Bidens frondosa on CalPhotos

Bidens frondosa at Minnesota Wildflowers

Bidens frondosa on Wikipedia

Bidens frondosa at the University of Wisconsin's Robert W. Freckmann Herbarium

Bidens frondosa on the University of Massachusetts Landscape, Nursery & Urban Forestry Program

Bidens frondosa on Plants for a Future, a resource and information centre for edible and otherwise useful plants

Bidens frondosa on eFloras