Summary ⁷

Bidens frondosa (devil's beggarticks) belongs to the aster plant family. It is a medicinal plant commonly made into a tincture from the root and is used to treat irritations, bleeding of the urinary tract mucosa, pain, and inflammation.

Botanical Information ⁸

Our plant is Bidens frondosa, which is commonly called devil's beggartick, devils pitchfork, or leafy beggarticks. It is in the Asteraceae (Aster) family and the Bidens genus. Devil's beggarticks is an annual herb that can grow from 1 to 3 feet tall. It produces 0.5 inch flower heads with 20-60 five-lobed disk flowers that are yellow-orange in color. The stem is smooth, slender, and purplish-brown and the leaves are opposite and pinnately divided into 3 or 5 coarsely toothed, lance-shaped leaflets. The seeds are flat and brown and are ¼ to ⅓ inches long with 2 barbed awns at the tip of the seed. The seeds easily catch onto fabric and fur to disburse the seed. The flower blooms from July to October.

Ecological Information ⁹

This plant grows in North America, Canada, U.S, Mexico, Europe, Asia, Morocco and New Zealand. It is native to most of North America. Devil's beggarticks prefers moist soils and full sun. It blooms anywhere from late Summer to early Fall. You will most likely find them in sunny and partly shady places near water, ditches, fields, and shores.

Ethnobotanical Information ¹⁰

The medicinal use of the plant is that the root has been used for treating irritations, inflammations, infections, and pain.

References ¹¹

https://www.friendsofeloisebutler.org/pages/plants/devilsbeggartick.html
https://www.minnesotawildflowers.info/flower/devils-beggarticks
https://plants.sc.egov.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=BIFR

About the Author ¹²

Student author(s)*: Savannah and Aileen (age 13) from South Valley Academy and Vicky (11th grade) from Menaul School

*The entries in this field guide have been edited by Yerba Mansa Project staff to ensure that they contain quality, fact-checked content and standardized formatting. https://yerbamansaproject.org/

Sources and Credits

1. (c) victoriasolares, all rights reserved
2. (c) Flavio Rocchi, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Flavio Rocchi
3. (c) Andrey Zharkikh, some rights reserved (CC BY), https://www.flickr.com/photos/zharkikh/9601404036/
4. (c) Andrey Zharkikh, some rights reserved (CC BY), https://www.flickr.com/photos/zharkikh/9597336943/
5. (c) epitree, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), https://www.flickr.com/photos/63394592@N08/26218184124/
6. (c) Jon Sullivan, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), https://www.flickr.com/photos/mollivan_jon/29217234394/
7. Adapted by caseynm from a work by (c) victoriasolares, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA)
8. Adapted by smiller33 from a work by (c) victoriasolares, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA)
9. Adapted by albuquerqueherbalism from a work by (c) victoriasolares, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA)
10. Adapted by albuquerqueherbalism from a work by (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bidens_frondosa
11. Adapted by Hannah from a work by (c) kristen_himm, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA)
12. Adapted by albuquerqueherbalism from a work by (c) kristen_himm, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA)

More Info

• iNat taxon page
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• eFloras.org
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• Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF)
• Go Botany
• HOSTS - a Database of the World's Lepidopteran Hostplants
• IPNI (with links to POWO, WFO, and BHL)
• Jepson eFlora
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• NatureServe Explorer 2.0
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• OregonFlora.org
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• USDA PLANTS database
• VASCAN by Canadensys
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• 日本のレッドデータ検索システム
• 植物和名−学名インデックス YList

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