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Bidens

(Genus)

Overview

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Bidens is a genus of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae. It contains about 200 species. The common names beggarticks, black jack, burr marigolds, cobbler's pegs, Spanish needles, stickseeds, tickseeds and tickseed sunflowers refer to the achene burrs on the seeds of this genus, most of which are barbed. The generic name refers to the same fact; it means "two-tooth", from Latin bis "two" + dens "tooth".

Bidens achenes sticking to a sleeve

The plants are zoochorous; their seeds will stick to clothing, fur or feathers, and be carried to new habitat. This has enabled them to colonize a wide range, including many oceanic islands. S ome of these species occur only in a very restricted range and several are now threatened with extinction, notably in the Hawaiian Islands. Due to the absence of native mammals on these islands, some of the oceanic island taxa have reduced burrs, evolving features that seem to aid in dispersal by the wind instead.

Smooth Beggarticks (B. laevis) is a common fall flower in the southeastern United States. Pitchfork Weed (B. frondosa) is considered to be a weed in New Zealand, although it is not officially declared an invasive species.

On the Hawaiian Islands, Bidens are called kokoolau or ko?oko?olau.[2] They were and still are used to brew a refreshing tea. In some regions, leaves of Hairy Beggarticks (B. pilosa) and Three-lobed Beggarticks (B. tripartita) are sometimes eaten as a vegetable.

Nodding Beggarticks (B. cernua) and Hairy Beggarticks are usefu l as honey plants. Several Bidens species are used as food by the caterpillars of certain Lepidoptera, such as the noctuid moth and the Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui, a brush-footed butterfly). The plant pathogen Bidens mottle virus was named after the present genus, as it was first isolated from Hairy Beggarticks; it infects a wide range of Asteraceae and other plants.

Bidens is found in many areas of the world.[3] It is closely related to the American genus Coreopsis and in fact neither Bidens nor Coreopsis as defined in the 20th century is monophyletic.[3]

Selected species

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Formerly placed here

Footnotes

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  1. ^ a b "Genus: Bidens L". Germplasm Resources Information Network. United States Department of Agriculture. 2007-10-05. http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/genus.pl?1444. Retrieved 2011-02-12. 
  2. ^ Carr (2006)
  3. ^ a b Crawford, D. J.; Mort, M. E. (2005). "Phylogeny of Eastern North American Coreopsis (Asteraceae-Coreopsideae): insights from nuclear and plastid sequences, and comments on character evolution". American Journal of Botany 92 (2): 330?6. doi:10.3732/ajb.92.2.330. PMID 21652409. 
  4. ^ [1] Crowe DR, Parker WH. Hybridization and Agamospermy of Bidens in Northwestern Ontario. Taxon. 30(4): 749-760. November 1981
  5. ^ a b "GRIN Species Records of Bidens". Germplasm Resources Information Network. United States Department of Agriculture. http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/splist.pl?1444. Retrieved 2011-02-12. 
  6. ^ "Bidens". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. http://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=35705. Retrieved 2011-02-12. 
i>Bidens is a genus of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae. It contains about 200 species. The common names begga rticks, black jack, burr marigolds, cobbler's pegs, Spanish needles, stickseeds, tickseeds and tickseed sunflowers refer to the achene burrs on the seeds of this genus, most of which are barbed. The generic name refers to the same fact; it means "two-tooth", from Latin bis "two" + dens "tooth".

Bidens achenes sticking to a sleeve

The plants are zoochorous; their seeds will stick to clothing, fur or feathers, and be carried to new habitat. This has enabled them to colonize a wide range, including many oceanic islands. Some of these species occur only in a very restricted range and several are now threatened with extinction, notably in the Hawaiian Island s. Due to the absence of native mammals on these islands, some of the oceanic island taxa have reduced burrs, evolving features that seem to aid in dispersal by the wind instead.

Smooth Beggarticks (B. laevis) is a common fall flower in the southeastern United States. Pitchfork Weed (B. frondosa) is considered to be a weed in New Zealand, although it is not officially declared an invasive species.

On the Hawaiian Islands, Bidens are called kokoolau or ko?oko?olau.[2] They were and still are used to brew a refreshing tea. In some regions, leaves of Hairy Beggarticks (B. pilosa) and Three-lobed Beggarticks (B. tripartita) are sometimes eaten as a vegetable.

Nodding Beggarticks (B. cernua) and Hairy Beggarticks are useful as honey plants. Several Bidens species are used as food by the caterpillars of certain Lepidoptera, such as the noctuid moth and the Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui, a brush-footed butterfly). The plant pathogen Bidens mottle virus was named after the present genus, as it was first isolated from Hairy Beggarticks; it infects a wide range of Asteraceae and other plants.

Bidens is found in many areas of the world.[3] It is closely related to the American genus Coreopsis and in fact neither Bidens nor Coreopsis as defined in the 20th century is monophyletic.[3]

Selected species

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Formerly placed here

Footnotes

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  1. ^ a b "Genus: Bidens L". Germplasm Resources Information Network. United States Department of Agriculture. 2007-10-05. http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/genus.pl?1444. Retrieved 2011-02-12. 
  2. ^ Carr (2006)
  3. ^ a b Crawford, D. J.; Mort, M. E. (2005). "Phylogeny of Eastern North American Coreopsis (Asteraceae-Coreopsideae): insights from nuclear and plastid sequences, and comments on character evolution". American Journal of Botany 92 (2): 330?6. doi:10.3732/ajb.92.2.330. PMID 21652409. 
  4. ^ [1] Crowe DR, Parker WH. Hybridization and Agamospermy of Bidens in Northwestern Ontario. Taxon. 30(4): 749-760. November 1981
  5. ^ a b "GRIN Species Records of Bidens". Germ plasm Resources Information Network. United States Department of Agriculture. http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/splist.pl?1444. Retrieved 2011-02-12. 
  6. ^ "Bidens". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. http://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=35705. Retrieved 2011-02-12. 

References

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  • Carr, Gerald D. (2006): Hawaiian Native Plant Genera - Asteraceae - Bidens. Version of 2006-MAR-29. Re trieved 2007-NOV-14.
  • Everitt, J.H.; Lonard, R.L., Little, C.R. (2007). Weeds in South Texas and Northern Mexico. Lubbock: Texas Tech University Press. ISBN 0896726142.  ISBN 0-89672-614-2 (Book)

External links

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Media related to Bidens at Wikimedia Commons Data related to Bidens at Wikispecies

Taxonomy

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The Genus Bidens is further organized into finer groupings including:

References

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External links

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Media related to Bidens at Wikimedia Commons Data related to Bidens at Wikispecies

Footnotes

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  1. ^ Carr (2006)

Sources

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Last Revised: August 24, 2012
2012/08/24 14:07:58