''Bidens'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek words (; 'container, vessel') and (; 'seed'), meaning that the seeds are enclosed with ...

s in the aster

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Asteraceae Asteraceae () is a large family (biology), family of flowering plants that consists of over 32,000 known species in over 1,900 genera within the Order (biology), order Asterales. The number of species in Asteraceae is rivaled only by the Orchi ...

.''Bidens''.
Flora of North America. The genus include roughly 230 species which are distributed worldwide.Knope, M. L., Funk, V. A., Johnson, M. A., Wagner, W. L., Datlof, E. M., Johnson, G., ... & Carlquist, S. (2020). Dispersal and adaptive radiation of ''Bidens'' (Compositae) across the remote archipelagoes of Polynesia. ''Journal of Systematics and Evolution'', ''58''(6), 805-822. Despite their global distribution, the systematics and taxonomy of the genus has been described as complicated and unorganized.Ganders, F. R., Berbee, M., & Perseyedi, M. (2000). ITS base sequence phylogeny in ''Bidens'' (Asteraceae): Evidence for the continental relatives of Hawaiian and Marquesan ''Bidens''. ''Systematic Botany,'' ''25''(1), 122-133. The common names beggarticks, black jack, burr marigolds, cobbler's pegs, Spanish needles, stickseeds, tickseeds and tickseed sunflowers refer to the fruits of the plants, most of which are bristly and barbed. The generic name refers to the same character; ''Bidens'' comes from the

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

''bi'' ("two") and ''dens'' ("tooth").

Phylogeny, taxonomy and diversity

Despite their global distribution, the systematics and taxonomy of the genus has been described as complicated and unorganized. The genus include roughly 230 species.''Bidens''.
The Jepson eFlora 2013. ''Bidens'' is closely related to the American genus ''

Coreopsis ''Coreopsis'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae. Common names include calliopsis and tickseed, a name shared with various tickseed, other plants. Description These plants range from in height. The flowers are usually ye ...

'', and the genera are sometimes difficult to tell apart; in addition, neither is

monophyletic In biological cladistics for the classification of organisms, monophyly is the condition of a taxonomic grouping being a clade – that is, a grouping of organisms which meets these criteria: # the grouping contains its own most recent co ...

.Crawford, D. J. and M. E. Mort. (2005)
Phylogeny of Eastern North American ''Coreopsis'' (Asteraceae-Coreopsideae): insights from nuclear and plastid sequences, and comments on character evolution.
''American Journal of Botany'' 92(2), 330-36.

Species

Species include:''Bidens''.
Flora of China. * '' Bidens alba'' (L.) DC. – romerillo * '' Bidens amplectens'' Sherff – Waianae kokoolau * '' Bidens amplissima'' Greene – Vancouver Island beggarticks * '' Bidens aristosa'' (Michx.) Britt. – bearded beggarticks, long-bracted beggarticks, tickseed sunflower, western tickseed * '' Bidens asymmetrica'' (Levl.) Sherff – Koolau kokoolau, Ko'olau Range beggarticks * '' Bidens aurea'' (Ait.) Sherff – Arizona beggarticks * '' Bidens beckii'' – Beck's water-marigold, Henderson's water-marigold, Oregon water-marigold * '' Bidens bidentoides'' (Nutt.) Britt. – Delmarva beggarticks * '' Bidens bigelovii'' A.Gray – Bigelow's beggarticks * '' Bidens bipinnata'' L. – Spanish needles, hemlock beggarticks, ''gui zheng cao'' () * '' Bidens biternata'' * '' Bidens cabopulmensis'' * '' Bidens campylotheca'' Sch.Bip.– viper beggarticks * '' Bidens cernua'' L. (syn. ''B. glaucescens'' Greene) – nodding beggarticks, nodding bur-marigold * '' Bidens cervicata'' Sherff – Kauai beggarticks * '' Bidens chippii'' (M.B.Moss) Mesfin * '' Bidens conjuncta'' Sherff – bog beggarticks * '' Bidens connata''Crowe, D. R. and W. H. Parker. (1981)
Hybridization and agamospermy of ''Bidens'' in northwestern Ontario.
''Taxon'' 30(4): 749-60. Muhl. ex Willd. – purplestem beggarticks * '' Bidens coronata'' (L.) Britt. – crowned beggarticks * '' Bidens cosmoides'' (A.Gray) Sherff – cosmosflower beggarticks, ''poola nui'' * '' Bidens cynapiifolia'' Kunth – West Indian beggarticks, ''alfilerillo'' * '' Bidens discoidea'' (Torr. & A.Gray) Britt. – discoid beggarticks, small beggarticks, swamp beggarticks, few-bracted beggarticks * '' Bidens eatonii'' Fern. – Eaton's beggarticks, ''bident d'Eaton'' * '' Bidens ferulifolia'' (Jacq.) DC. – Apache beggarticks, fern-leaved beggarticks * '' Bidens forbesii'' Sherff – coastal bluff beggarticks * '' Bidens frondosa'' L. – devil's beggarticks, devil's pitchfork, devil's bootjack, pitchfork weed, common beggarticks, sticktights. Pitchfork weed (''B. frondosa'') is considered to be a

weed A weed is a plant considered undesirable in a particular situation, growing where it conflicts with human preferences, needs, or goals.Harlan, J. R., & deWet, J. M. (1965). Some thoughts about weeds. ''Economic botany'', ''19''(1), 16-24. Pla ...

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. * '' Bidens gardneri'' Baker – ridge beggarticks * '' Bidens hawaiensis'' A.Gray – Hawaii beggarticks * '' Bidens henryi'' Sherff * '' Bidens heterodoxa'' (Fern.) Fern. & H.St.John – Connecticut beggarticks, ''bident différent'' * '' 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. Smooth beggarticks (''B. laevis'') is a common fall

flower Flowers, also known as blooms and blossoms, are the reproductive structures of flowering plants ( angiosperms). Typically, they are structured in four circular levels, called whorls, around the end of a stalk. These whorls include: calyx, m ...

in the southeastern United States. * '' Bidens lemmonii'' Gray – Lemmon's beggarticks * '' Bidens leptocephala'' Sherff – few-flowered beggarticks * '' Bidens leptophylla'' * '' Bidens macrocarpa'' (Gray) Sherff – large-fruited beggarticks * '' Bidens macroptera'' (Sch.Bip. ex Chiov.) Mesfin * '' Bidens mannii'' T.G.J.Rayner * '' Bidens mauiensis'' (Gray) Sherff – Maui beggarticks * '' Bidens maximowicziana'' * '' Bidens menziesii'' (Gray) Sherff – Mauna Loa beggarticks * '' Bidens meyeri'' V.A.Funk & K.R.Wood * '' Bidens micrantha'' Gaud. –

grassland A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominance (ecology), dominated by grasses (Poaceae). However, sedge (Cyperaceae) and rush (Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes such as clover, and other Herbaceo ...

beggarticks ** ''B. micrantha'' ssp. ''kalealaha'' Nagata & Ganders – Kalealaha beggarticks * '' Bidens mitis'' (Michx.) Sherff – small-fruited beggarticks * '' Bidens molokaiensis'' (Hillebr.) Sherff – Molokai beggarticks, wedge beggarticks * ''Bidens'' × ''multiceps'' Fassett * '' Bidens nudata'' Brandegee ''–'' Cape beggar's tick, Baja tickseed * '' Bidens parviflora'' * '' Bidens pachyloma'' – Meskel Flower * '' Bidens pilosa'' S.F.Blake – hairy beggarticks * '' Bidens polylepis'' S.F.Blake * '' Bidens populifolia'' Sherff – Oahu beggarticks * '' Bidens radiata'' * '' Bidens reptans'' (L.) G.Don – manzanilla trepador * '' Bidens sandvicensis'' Less. – shrubland beggarticks * '' Bidens schimperi'' Sch.Bip. * '' Bidens simplicifolia'' C.H.Wright * '' Bidens socorrensis'' * '' Bidens squarrosa'' Kunth * '' Bidens subalternans'' DC. * '' Bidens tenuisecta'' A.Gray – slim-lobed beggarticks * '' Bidens torta'' Sherff – corkscrew beggarticks * '' Bidens trichosperma'' (Michx.) Britton – crowned beggarticks * '' Bidens tripartita'' L. (syn. ''B. acuta'', ''B. comosa'') – three-lobed beggarticks, three-part beggarticks, leafy-bracted beggarticks, trifid bur-marigold * '' Bidens triplinervia'' Kunth ** ''B. triplinervia'' var. ''macrantha'' (Wedd.) Sherff * '' Bidens valida'' Sherff – Mt. Kahili beggarticks * '' Bidens vulgata'' Greene – big devil's beggarticks, tall beggarticks, tall bur-marigold, western sticktight * '' Bidens wiebkei'' Sherff – Wiebke's beggarticks

Formerly placed here

*'' Cosmos atrosanguineus'' (Hook.) Voss (as ''B. atrosanguinea'' (Hook.) Ortgies ex Regel) *'' Cosmos bipinnatus'' Cav. (as ''B. formosa'' (Bonato) Sch.Bip.) *'' Melanthera nivea'' (L.) Small (as ''B. nivea'' L.) *'' Salmea scandens'' (L.) DC. (as ''B. scandens'' L.) *'' Thelesperma megapotamicum'' (Spreng.) Kuntze (as ''B. megapotamica'' Spreng.)

Distribution

''Bidens'' includes roughly 230 species which are distributed worldwide throughout many

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the equator, where the sun may shine directly overhead. This contrasts with the temperate or polar regions of Earth, where the Sun can never be directly overhead. This is because of Earth's ax ...

and warm

temperate In geography, the temperate climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes (approximately 23.5° to 66.5° N/S of the Equator), which span between the tropics and the polar regions of Earth. These zones generally have wider temperature ran ...

regions.''Bidens''.
New South Wales Flora Online. National Herbarium, Royal Botanic Garden, Sydney. Species occur in the Americas, Africa, Polynesia, Europe and Asia.Ganders, F. R., et al. (2000)
ITS base sequence phylogeny in ''Bidens'' (Asteraceae): Evidence for the continental relatives of Hawaiian and Marquesan ''Bidens''.
''Systematic Botany'' 25(1) 122-33. ''Bidens'' are zoochorous; their seeds will stick to clothing, fur or feathers, and be carried to new

habitat In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species' habitat can be seen as the physical manifestation of its ...

. 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 Extinction is the termination of an organism by the death of its Endling, last member. A taxon may become Functional extinction, functionally extinct before the death of its last member if it loses the capacity to Reproduction, reproduce and ...

, notably in the Hawaiian Islands. Due to the absence of native mammals on these islands, some of the oceanic island

taxa In biology, a taxon (back-formation from ''taxonomy''; : taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular name and ...

have reduced burrs, evolving features that seem to aid in dispersal by the wind instead.

Human use and interactions

Nodding beggarticks (''B. cernua'') and hairy beggarticks (''B. pilosa'') are useful as honey plants. Several ''Bidens'' species are used as food by the

caterpillar Caterpillars ( ) are the larval stage of members of the order Lepidoptera (the insect order comprising butterflies and moths). As with most common names, the application of the word is arbitrary, since the larvae of sawflies (suborder ...

s of certain

Lepidoptera Lepidoptera ( ) or lepidopterans is an order (biology), order of winged insects which includes butterflies and moths. About 180,000 species of the Lepidoptera have been described, representing 10% of the total described species of living organ ...

, such as the noctuid moth '' Hypercompe hambletoni'' and the brush-footed butterfly ''

Vanessa cardui ''Vanessa cardui'' is the most widespread of all butterfly species. It is commonly called the painted lady, or formerly in North America the cosmopolitan. Description File:Vanessa cardui MHNT CUT 2013 3 14 Pontfaverger-Moronvilliers Dos. ...

'', the painted lady. The Bidens mottle virus, a plant pathogen, was first isolated from ''B. pilosa'', and it infects many other Asteraceae and plants of other families.

Native Hawaiians Native Hawaiians (also known as Indigenous Hawaiians, Kānaka Maoli, Aboriginal Hawaiians, or simply Hawaiians; , , , and ) are the Indigenous Polynesian people of the Hawaiian Islands. Hawaiʻi was settled at least 800 years ago by Polynesian ...

drink a special tea out of their leaves (known collectively as ''koʻokoʻolau'') back when they were abundant in Hawaii.

Photo gallery

File:Bidens tripartita 003.jpg File:Bidens biternata W IMG 2942.jpg File:Flor blanca (Bidens alba).jpg File:Bidens frondosa, 2021-09-15, Bird Park, 02.jpg File:BidensFrondosa9.jpg File:Bidens cernua SCA-6457.jpg File:Bidens cernua sl27.jpg

References

External links

* * * {{Authority control Asteraceae genera Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus