Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Asterids: Campanulids: Asterales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Bidens bipinnata
FAMILY
Asteraceae
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
Check out EDDMapS.org to see where this has been reported.
Read more about Spanish Needles at Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Bidens bipinnata
FAMILY
Asteraceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 19-20-21 (2006)
Bidens bipinnata
SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 179-70-011:
Bidens bipinnata FAMILY Asteraceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Bidens bipinnata
COMMON NAME:
Spanish Needles
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
)
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913 pnd_bibi7_001_lvd
)
USDA / Selected Weeds of the US. 1970 swus_page_377
)
JK Marlow jkm0309e_01
September Greenville County SC
Ray flowers to 1cm long & 3mm wide, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
)
JK Marlow jkm120910_638
September Greenville County SC
Swamp Rabbit Trail
Fern-like leaves are 2-3x pinnately dissected into irregular segments, per Wildflowers of Tennessee (Carman, 2005).
COMPARE
leaves of Mugwort, Ragweed and Spanish Needles
)
JK Marlow jkm120910_646
September Greenville County SC
Swamp Rabbit Trail
Achenes are linear and needle-like with 3-4 barbed awns, per Wildflowers of Tennessee (Carman, 2005).
)
JK Marlow jkm120914_850
September Greenville County SC
Swamp Rabbit Trail
)
JK Marlow jkm120914_854
September Greenville County SC
Swamp Rabbit Trail
)
JK Marlow jkm130913_318
September Greenville County SC
Swamp Rabbit Trail
Outer bracts green, 2-7mm long, very narrow; inner 4-8mm long, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
COMPARE
involucral bracts of Bidens and Coreopsis
)
JK Marlow jkm180902_4428
September Greenville County SC
)
Gill Newberry gn10_b_bipinnata_head
October
The heads are small and narrow, the disk about 0.2" wide at flowering, per Wildflowers of Tennessee (Carman, 2005).
)
Gill Newberry gn10_b_bipinnata_palnt
October
)
Gill Newberry gn10_b_bipinnata_yngach
October
Young achenes.
)
JK Marlow jkm131020_917
October Spartanburg County SC
)
JK Marlow jkm131020_917b
October Spartanburg County SC
)
Keith Bradley kab_bidens_bipinnata_9444
December Richland County SC
Sandhills Research and Education Center
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Bidens bipinnata
FAMILY
Asteraceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Bidens bipinnata
FAMILY
Asteraceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 19-20-21
Bidens bipinnata
SYNONYMOUS WITH
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 179-70-011:
Bidens bipinnata
FAMILY
Asteraceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Bidens bipinnata
206
Forb
Annual
Habitat: floodplains, disturbed areas, gardens, fields, roadsides, ditches, per Weakley's Flora
Native to the Carolinas & Georgia
Common
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.
This plant may be causing problems in natural areas outside its native range, according to authorities such as:
LEAVES:
Simple: 2- or 3-pinnately dissected, the ultimate segments 2-10mm wide
Opposite
FLOWER:
Summer/Fall
Rays: Absent or Yellow
Disc: Yellow
Inferior ovary
Disc flowers bisexual & fertile/ Ray flowers neuter or styliferous & sterile
FRUIT:
Summer/Fall
Achene
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- All About South Carolina Wildflowers (Midgley, 1999) p120
- Forest Plants of the Southeast and Their Wildlife Uses (Miller & Miller, 2005) p020
- Newcomb's Wildflower Guide (Newcomb, 1977) p440
- Wildflowers of the Atlantic Southeast (Cotterman, Waitt, & Weakley, 2019) p309
- Wildflowers of the Eastern United States (Duncan & Duncan, 1999) p127
- Wild Flowers of NC, 2nd edition (Justice, Bell, & Lindsey, 2005) p274
- Field Guide to the Wildflowers of Georgia (Chafin, 2016) p060
- Wildflowers of Tennessee (Carman, 2005) p278
- Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005) p328
- Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998) p196
- Wildflowers of the Sandhills Region (Sorrie, 2011) p342
If a search such as "Carex leptalea var. leptalea" doesn't deliver the results you want, try "Carex leptalea".
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