Bidens frondosa L. var. caudata Sherff
Bidens frondosa L. var. pallida Wiegand
Bidens frondosa L. var. stenodonta Fernald & H. St. John
Bidens frondosa L.
Devil’s beggartick, devil’s-pitchfork, devil’s bootjack, sticktights, bur marigold, pitchfork weed, tickseed sunflower, leafy beggarticks, common beggar-ticks
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.
Plants: 1–3′ (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.
Leaves: Lower leaves are odd pinnate clusters on long petioles, in opposite pairs; upper leaves may be alternate. Leaves are up to 3 ⨉ 1″ (7.6 ⨉ 2.5 cm), coarsely toothed, deltate or lanceolate.
Flowers: 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. 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.
Fruits: 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.
Habitats: Moist woods, meadows, thickets, fields, roadsides, railroads, borders of streams, ponds, sloughs, swamps, ditches.
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.
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Some similar species. |
Online References:
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
Bidens frondosa L. var. caudata Sherff
Bidens frondosa L. var. pallida Wiegand
Bidens frondosa L. var. stenodonta Fernald & H. St. John
9/16/2013 · Townsend Wildlife Management Area, Townsend, Massachusetts · ≈ 8 × 6″ (20 × 14 cm) 
9/27/2018 · Pearl Hill State Park, Townsend, Massachusetts · ≈ 8 × 5″ (20 × 13 cm) 
8/4/2010 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Groton Center, Groton, Massachusetts · ≈ 1½ × 1′ (52 × 36 cm) 
7/24/2010 · Acton Arboretum, Acton, Massachusetts · ≈ 1 × 1′ (34 × 39 cm) 
9/11/2010 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Groton Center, Groton, Massachusetts · ≈ 3½ × 4″ (8.8 × 10 cm) 
9/15/2015 · Beaver Brook Conservation Area, Porcupine Trail, Hollis, New Hampshire · ≈ 4½ × 3½″ (11 × 9.1 cm) 
9/27/2018 · Pearl Hill State Park, Townsend, Massachusetts · ≈ 4 × 3½″ (10 × 8.8 cm) 
9/11/2010 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Groton Center, Groton, Massachusetts · ≈ 3 × 3″ (7.4 × 7.9 cm) 
9/25/2017 · Oak Hill, Littleton, Massachusetts · ≈ 4½ × 3½″ (12 × 9.2 cm) 
9/25/2017 · Oak Hill, Littleton, Massachusetts · ≈ 6 × 4″ (14 × 10 cm) 
7/24/2010 · Acton Arboretum, Acton, Massachusetts · ≈ 17 × 11″ (43 × 27 cm) 
9/16/2013 · Townsend Wildlife Management Area, Townsend, Massachusetts · ≈ 8 × 5″ (19 × 12 cm) 
9/11/2010 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Groton Center, Groton, Massachusetts · ≈ 14 × 9″ (35 × 23 cm) 
9/11/2025 · Waldoboro, Maine · ≈ 7 × 6″ (18 × 16 cm) 
9/15/2015 · Beaver Brook Conservation Area, Porcupine Trail, Hollis, New Hampshire · ≈ 5 × 4″ (12 × 10 cm) 
9/6/2023 · Beach near Cook’s Lobster and Ale House, Bailey Island, Maine 
| Kingdom | Plantae | Plants, but not fungi, lichens, or algae (from Stearn's Botanical Latin) |
| 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” |
Bidens frondosa description by Thomas H. Kent, not updated.
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