White beggarticks

Bidens alba

Taxonomy

Kingdom: Plantae Phylum: Tracheophyta Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Asterales Family: Asteraceae Genus: Bidens

About

Bidens alba, which belongs to the family Asteraceae, is most commonly known as shepherd's needles, beggarticks, Spanish needles, or butterfly needles. Bidens means two- toothed, describing the two projections found at the top of the seeds, and alba refers to the white ray florets. This plant is found in tropical and subtropical regions of North America, Asia, South America, and Africa, situated in gardens, road sides, farm fields and disturbed sites. B. alba is an annual or...