Spanish Needle Bidens Alba (Common Beggarticks)
Asteraceae (Sunflower family)
Group: Dicot (Broadleaf)
Erect, branching annual herb, native of North America. It can be a weak perennial in south Florida where it is commonly found in non-crop areas, along canals and ditch banks.
Seedling cotyledons are petioled, spatulate, with prominent midveins. The leaves are opposite, deep green on the upper surface, pale underneath, with three leaflets. Leaf margins are wavy with irregular teeth.
Leaves are opposite, petioled, with odd number of leaflets. Leaf margins are toothed. Lower surface of the leaf is hairy.
Stem is erect, spreading, smooth, 12 to 30 inches tall, sometimes rooting at lower nodes.
Flower is solitary. The center flower (disk flower) is yellow with 7 to 9 white ray flowers on the outside. It produces a skinny fruit with 2 projections on the tip with tiny hairs pointing backwards.
Roots are fibrous from a taproot.
Propagation is by seed.
