Bidens

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Bidens
Smooth Beggarticks (Bidens laevis) being pollinated by a bombyliid fly
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae Division: Magnoliophyta Class: Magnoliopsida Subclass: Asteridae (unranked) Euasterids I Order: Asterales Family: Asteraceae Subfamily: Asteroideae Tribe: Heliantheae Subtribe: Coreopsidinae Genus: Bidens L.
Species
Many, see text.

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 is not officially declared an invasive species.

On the Hawaiian Islands, Bidens are called kokoʻolau or koʻokoʻolau^[1]. 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.

[edit] Selected species

• Bidens alba (L.) DC.^{[verification needed]} – 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^{[verification needed]}, 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

[edit] Footnotes

[edit] References

• Carr, Gerald D. (2006): Hawaiian Native Plant Genera - Asteraceae - Bidens. Version of 2006-MAR-29. Retrieved 2007-NOV-14.

• Everitt, J.H.; Lonard, R.L., Little, C.R. (2007). Weeds in South Texas and Northern Mexico. Lubbock: Texas Tech University Press.  ISBN 0-89672-614-2 (Book)