Beggarticks

Have you seen this plant? With small white petals and a sunshine-yellow center, Beggarticks is an extremely common wildflower / weed that the United States Department of Agriculture considers native to Florida.^[1] It can reach up to 3 ft tall and can grow in a variety of areas (it is a weed, after all), particularly areas that have been disturbed.^[2] You might find it on the side of the road, near a ditch, or in your own backyard. 

The flowers in these first two photos were growing near freshwater, and the bees were loving them.

So, what's so sticky about this plant that earns it a name like Beggarticks? Its seeds! One plant can produce over 1,200! ^[3] The seeds have two or more barbs that can snag onto passing animals and socks.^[2] Thus, they spread. As the Florida Native Plant Society (n.d.) notes, “If you don't have it now, you will, so no need to plant” (para. 10).^[4]

Bees aren’t the only ones that like these flowers. The Dainty Sulphur, a tiny yellow butterfly, uses Beggarticks as a host plant, amongst other flowers in the plant family Asteracea.^[5] This family is known for having flower heads that are made up of smaller flowers.^[6] Look closely at Beggarticks and you’ll see tiny yellow flowers at its center.

Thinking about Beggarticks reminded me of The Scarlet Pimpernel. If you've ever seen or read The Scarlet Pimpernel, you'll know that the hero, rescuing people from the guillotine during the French Revolution, chooses the name of his secret identity after a "humble...wayside flower" (Orczy, 1905/2022, Ch. 4).^[7] That description seems to match these flowers. Small and simple, a wildflower and a weed, Beggarticks grows in ditches and backyards and wherever else it can, helping out the bees and the butterflies.

That being said, “The Scarlet Pimpernel” is a much cooler secret identity name than “Beggarticks.”

The Details:

Common Name: Beggarticks / Spanish Needles (and several other common names)

Scientific Name: Bidens alba

Order: Asterales

Family: Asteraceae

Seen: Growing near freshwater and in backyards

Month: February 2024 (top three photos) and September 2023 (Last photo)

Range: According to the United States Department of Agriculture, Beggarticks can be found in Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana, North and South Carolina, Hawaii, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Missouri, New Mexico, Puerto Rico, and a small portion of Pennsylvania.^[1]

Learn More:

1. United States Department of Agriculture, Natural Resource Conservation Service. (n.d.). Bidens alba (L.) DC.: romerillo. PLANTS Database. 
2. Khamare, Y., Marble, C., Steed, S., & Boyd, N. (2019). Biology and Management of Spanish Needles (Bidens Spp.) in Ornamental Crop Production (Publication No. ENH1308). University of Florida IFAS Extension.
3. Hall, D. W., Vandiver, V. V., & Ferrell, J. A. (2006). Common Beggar’s-tick (Hairy Beggar’s-tick), Bidens alba (L.) DC. University of Florida IFAS Extension.
4. Florida Native Plant Society. (n.d.). Bidens alba.
5. Lotts, K., & Naberhaus, T. (n.d.). Dainty Sulphur: Nathalis iole Boisduval, 1836. Butterflies and Moths of North America.
6. Britannica. (n.d.). Asteraceae. Retrieved March 8, 2024.
7. Orczy. E. (2022). The Scarlet Pimpernel. Project Gutenberg. (Original work published 1905)