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Devil's Beggarticks - Bidens frondosa

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Native Species

Global Rank: G5
State Rank: S4S5
(see State Rank Reason below)
C-value: 6


Agency Status
USFWS:
USFS:
BLM:


 

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State Rank Reason (see State Rank above)
Numerous collections from Sanders, Big Horn,cTreasure, Dawson, Yellowstone counties and the CM Russell NWR. Probably undercollected due to inconspicuous appearance.
 
General Description
Annual. Stems erect, 20–80 cm, often branched. Herbage glabrous to sparsely puberulent. Leaves distinctly petiolate; blades 1–8 cm long, divided into 3 lanceolate, serrate leaflets. Inflorescence: heads several; peduncles 1–8 cm long. Involucre: outer phyllaries ca. 8, linear-oblanceolate, 1–2 cm long, ciliate; inner phyllaries ovate, 4–8 mm long with erose, appendaged tips. Rays absent or 3 to 5, reduced. Disk corollas 2–3 mm long. Pappus 2, awns 2–4 mm long. Achenes flattened, 6–12 mm long (Lesica et al. 2012. Manual of Montana Vascular Plants. BRIT Press. Fort Worth, TX).

Diagnostic Characteristics
In Montana Bidens species have opposite leaves, involucral bracts of 2 types, awned seeds that catch your clothing, and grow in wetland habitats. Several species lack ray florets.

Devil's Beggarticks - Bidens frondosa
*Life Span: Annual.
*Leaves: Pinnately divided and with a distinct petiole.
*Flower Heads: Composed of disc florets; ray florets absent or inconspicuous. Outer phyllaries are 5-8 mm long.
*Pappus: With 2 awns.
*Habitat: Wet or moist places that may become temporarily inundated.

Tall Bur-marigold - Bidens vulgata
*Life Span: Annual.
*Leaves: Pinnately divided and with a distinct petiole.
*Flower Heads: Composed only of disc florets; ray florets absent. Outer phyllaries are 10-16 mm long.
*Pappus: With 2 awns.
*Habitat: Wet or moist places that may become temporarily inundated.

Nodding Beggarticks - Bidens cernua
*Life Span: Annual.
*Leaves: Simple or shallowly lobed and toothed. Petioles are short and distinct or sessile and winged.
*Flower Heads: Composed only of disc and ray florets.
*Pappus: Usually with 4 awns.
*Habitat: Wet or moist places that may become temporarily inundated.

Three-lobe Beggarticks - Bidens comosa
*Life Span: Annual.
*Leaves: Simple or shallowly lobed and toothed. Petioles are short and distinct or sessile and winged.
*Flower Heads: Composed only of disc florets though sometimes with inconspicuous ray florets.
*Pappus: Usually with 3 awns.
*Habitat: Wet or moist places that may become temporarily inundated.

Beck Water-marigold - Bidens beckii, SOC
*Life Span: Perennial
*Leaves: Of two types. Submerged leaves are dissected into thread-like segments. Emergent leaves are simple and toothed.
*Flower Heads: Composed only disc and ray florets.
*Pappus: Of 2-6 awns.
*Habitat: Aquatic.

Range Comments
Throughout North America (Lesica et al. 2012. Manual of Montana Vascular Plants. BRIT Press. Fort Worth, TX).

Observations in Montana Natural Heritage Program Database
Number of Observations: 5

(Click on the following maps and charts to see full sized version) Map Help and Descriptions
Relative Density

Recency

 

(Observations spanning multiple months or years are excluded from time charts)



Habitat

Ecology
POLLINATORS
The following animal species have been reported as pollinators of this plant species or its genus where their geographic ranges overlap: Bombus griseocollis and Bombus impatiens (Plath 1934, Colla and Dumesh 2010).


References
  • Literature Cited AboveLegend:   View Online Publication
    • Colla, S.R. and S. Dumesh. 2010. The bumble bees of southern Ontario: notes on natural history and distribution. Journal of the Entomological Society of Ontario 141:39-68.
    • Flora of North America Editorial Committee (FNA). 2006. Flora of North America North of Mexico. Vol. 21. Magnoliophyta: Asteridae (in part): Asteraceae, part 3. Oxford Univ. Press, New York. xxii + 616 pp.
    • Hitchcock, C.L. and A. Cronquist. 2018. Flora of the Pacific Northwest: An Illustrated Manual. Second Edition. Giblin, D.E., B.S. Legler, P.F. Zika, and R.G. Olmstead (eds). Seattle, WA: University of Washington Press in Association with Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture. 882 p.
    • Lesica, P., M.T. Lavin, and P.F. Stickney. 2012. Manual of Montana Vascular Plants. Fort Worth, TX: BRIT Press. viii + 771 p.
    • Plath, O.E. 1934. Bumblebees and their ways. New York, NY: Macmillan Company. 201 p.
  • Additional ReferencesLegend:   View Online Publication
    Do you know of a citation we're missing?
    • Boggs, K. W. 1984. Succession in riparian communities of the lower Yellowstone River, Montana. M.S. Thesis. Montana State University, Bozeman, 107 pp.
    • Fassett, N. C. 1985. (3rd ed.) A Manual of Aquatic Plants, with Revision Appendix by E. C. Ogden. University of Wisconsin Press, Madison. 405 pp.
    • Lesica, P., M.T. Lavin, and P.F. Stickney. 2022. Manual of Montana Vascular Plants, Second Edition. Fort Worth, TX: BRIT Press. viii + 779 p.
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Citation for data on this website:
Devil's Beggarticks — Bidens frondosa.  Montana Field Guide.  .  Retrieved on , from