Beggar Ticks, Devil's beggartick

Bidens frondosa

Physical Characteristics

Bidens frondosa is a ANNUAL growing to 1.5 m (5ft). It is in flower from July to October, and the seeds ripen from August to October. The species is hermaphrodite (has both male and female organs) and is pollinated by Bees, hover-flies. Suitable for: light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils. Suitable pH: mildly acid, neutral and basic (mildly alkaline) soils. It cannot grow in the shade. It prefers moist soil.

Distribution

N. America - Nova Scotia to British Columbia, south to Florida and California.

Habitats

Cultivated Beds;

Edible Uses

Edible Parts: Leaves Edible Uses: Young leaves and stems - cooked[173, 177].

Medicinal Uses

Urinary According to Rahman et al. (2011) B. frondosa is potentially a useful source of essential oil extracts with antibacterial and antioxidant properties. Infusions and tinctures of B. frondosa have a wide range of medicinal properties. They can be used for treatment of irritation, inflammation, pain and bleeding of the urinary tract mucosa and are used for benign prostatic hypertrophy and increasing excretion of uric acid and decreasing the risk of gout attacks (Flora of North America, 2014) [1d].

Known Hazards

None known