Asteraceae: Bidens vulgata
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Family Name
Asteraceae
Common Name
Tall Beggarticks, Sticktight
Native American Name
Laktoa: mnióhuta aglágla, waȟčá zí
Description
Bidens vulgata is an annual herb with a fibrous root system, reproducing exclusively by seed. The stems are erect, branched above, and can reach 30–120 cm tall, often with angled or ridged surfaces and sometimes rough to the touch. Leaves are opposite, pinnately compound with 3 to 7 lance-shaped leaflets; leaflets are 3–10 cm long, with serrated margins and pointed tips, the central leaflet usually the largest. Petioles are 1 to 5 centimeters long. Both stem and leaf surfaces may be sparsely to moderately hairy. Flowering occurs from late summer to fall. The inflorescence is a loose or clustered array of small, yellow, daisy-like flower heads, each with a few inconspicuous yellow ray florets (sometimes absent) and numerous yellow disc florets. The involucral bracts are green, narrow, and often extend beyond the flower head. Flowers have five lobes; stamens number five with anthers fused into a tube around the ovary. The pistil comprises a single ovary with a bifid style. Fruits are flattened, two- to four-awned achenes ("sticktights") 4–8 mm long, brown to black at maturity, with barbed awns that easily attach to fur or clothing for dispersal. Tall Beggarticks is native to South Dakota and typically found in moist, disturbed soils such as ditches, streambanks, floodplains, wet meadows, and along roadsides, most common in the eastern and central portions of the state.
Horticulture Notes
Seed Collection: Collect seeds in late summer to fall when the achenes are dry and dark; fruits easily detach and stick to clothing or animal fur.
Germination: Sow seeds in spring; they germinate readily without pretreatment but benefit from moist, warm conditions.
Vegetative Propagation: Propagation is only by seed.
Soils: Prefers moist to wet soils, including loams and clays; tolerates periodic flooding.
Light: Full sun to partial shade.
Water: Requires consistent moisture for best growth; thrives in wet or seasonally inundated habitats.
Additional Notes
Tall Beggarticks is not widely used in horticulture, though it can be grown in wetland restoration or rain gardens for its value to pollinators and wetland birds. Seeds are consumed by waterfowl and small mammals, and the flowers provide nectar and pollen that attract bees and other insects.