Bidens laevis (Bur-marigolds)

Bidens laevis (L.) Britton Sterns & Poggenb.

Bur-marigolds, sticktights, smooth beggartick, smooth bidens, smooth bur marigold, larger bur marigold

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	laevis	Smooth, free from hairs or roughness

About plant names...

Bur-marigolds are North American natives. They are found in saturated or flooded soils.

Plants: 24-36" (60-91 cm) high, rarely up to 6' (1.8 m). Plants and flowers tend to look disheveled.

Leaves: 1½-8" (3.8-20 cm) long, narrow, with coarse (dentate or serrate) teeth. They vary in shape from obovate or elliptic to lanceolate or linear.

Flowers: Yellow flowers are 1½-2½" (3.8-6.3 cm) around, with 8 petals. Each is a composite flower. They bloom from July to October.

Fruits: Seeds have barbed tips, which hitchhike on passers-by to find new locations.

From Britton, Nathaniel Lord, and Brown, Addison, An illustrated flora of the northern United States, Canada and the British Possessions, 1913. Courtesy of USDA-NRCS Plants Database.

These are similar:

9/13/2020 · Mohawk River, Cohoes, New York · By John W. Kent

9/11/2010 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Groton Center, Groton, Massachusetts
≈ 8 × 6" (20 × 14 cm)

9/10/2010 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Groton Center, Groton, Massachusetts
≈ 11 × 7" (27 × 18 cm)

	*Bidens cernua*	*Bidens frondosa*	You are here Bidens laevis
Common Name	nodding beggartick	devil’s beggartick	bur-marigolds
Plant	Up to 13' (4 m) high, usually less than 3' (91 cm)	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	24-36" (60-91 cm) high, rarely up to 6' (1.8 m). Plants and flowers tend to look disheveled.
Flowers	Composite flowers are 1-2" (2.5-5 cm) across, have up to 8 petals, though rarely the ray flowers are missing and only the tubular disk flowers are present. The flowers are *sideways-facing*, rather than upward-facing	Each composite flower is composed of 20-60 orange-yellow disc florets about ⅜-½" (9.5-12 mm) around, *and rarely 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. Flowers occur in groups of 1-12, appearing from late summer to early fall.	Yellow flowers are 1½-2½" (3.8-6.3 cm) around, with 8 petals. Each is a composite flower. They bloom from July to October.
Leaves	Opposite, and sessile or *clasping—leaf bases wrap around the stem.* Leaves are 1½-8" (4-20 cm) long × up to 1" (2.5 cm) wide, and simple (unlobed)	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.	1½-8" (3.8-20 cm) long, narrow, with coarse (dentate or serrate) teeth. They vary in shape from obovate or elliptic to lanceolate or linear
Fruit	Fruits are brown, hard, and triangular in shape, with four barbed spears of roughly equal length called awns	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.	Seeds have barbed tips, which hitchhike on passers-by to find new locations.
Range/ Zones
Habitats	Near shorelines and the edges of wetlands, in sandy or mucky soil	Moist woods, meadows, thickets, fields, roadsides, railroads, borders of streams, ponds, sloughs, swamps, ditches	Saturated or flooded soils
Type	Wild	Wild	Wild
Occurrence		Common

Online References:

Bidens laevis on Southeastern Flora, the Southeastern U.S. Plant Identification Resource

Bidens laevis on www.jeffpippen.com

Bidens laevis at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center

Bidens laevis on Hortipedia

Bidens laevis on CalPhotos

Bidens laevis at the Clemson Cooperative Extension

Bidens laevis on eFloras

9/11/2010 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Groton Center, Groton, Massachusetts
≈ 21 × 31" (52 × 78 cm)

9/10/2010 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Groton Center, Groton, Massachusetts
≈ 14 × 12" (34 × 29 cm)

9/10/2010 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Groton Center, Groton, Massachusetts
≈ 3 × 2½' (1 × 0.8 m)

Bidens elegans Greene

Bidens nashii Small

Helianthus laevis L.

Bidens laevis description by Thomas H. Kent, last updated 17 Sep 2020.

9/11/2010 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Groton Center, Groton, Massachusetts
≈ 4 × 3½" (11 × 8.8 cm)

9/10/2010 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Groton Center, Groton, Massachusetts
≈ 21 × 14" (52 × 34 cm)

9/11/2010 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Groton Center, Groton, Massachusetts
≈ 5 × 3½" (13 × 9.2 cm)

Range:

About this map...