Bidens frondosa
Devil's Beggarticks
NATIVE
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Lance-shaped, toothed leaves; usually divided into 3 to 5 leaflets
Credit: Kristie Gianopulos. Used with permission.
FIELD ID CHARACTERISTICS:
Look for yellow disk flowers with green leaf-like bracts extending from base, or the flat, barbed seeds.
Description: Medium annual herb, to 1 m tall; often many branching.
Leaves: Leaf blades lance-shaped, toothed, usually divided into 3 to 5 leaflets.
Flowers/Fruit: Yellow disk and ray flowers usually have only disks, 30 to 60 or more. Leaflike bracts (about 8) extend from base of flowers. Barbed, flat seeds have two barbed awns, "devil's pitchforks". Flowers and fruits June to October.
Habit and Range: Wet meadows, marshes, floodplain forests, ditches, beaver marshes, and waste places across the state, except in the Outer Banks.
Typical Max Plant Height (m):
1
Leaf Arrangement:
Opposite
Leaf Division:
Pinnately Compound
Leaf Margin:
Toothed
Leaf Shape:
Lance-shaped (Lanceolate)
Inflorescence Color:
Yellow
Fruit Color:
Brown
Lifespan:
Annual
Group:
Dicot
Family:
Asteraceae / Aster
Ecoregions Found In:
Statewide
