Nearctica - Eastern Wildflowers - Asteraceae - Tickseed Sunflower (Bidens aristosa)

Tickseed Sunflower

(Bidens aristosa)

Color Photograph: Copyright Nearctica.com, Inc.

Line Drawing: Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913. An Illustrated Flora of the Northern United States and Canada, Second Edition.

Bidens coronata

Tickseed Sunflower is difficult to separate from a couple of other closely related species. The leaflets of Crowned Beggar Ticks are not as heavily toothed and the apical leaflets are narrow and elongate relative to the two leaflets at its base. The margin of the seed of Crowned Beggar Ticks does not have a winged, papery margin.

Tickseed Sunflower (Bidens aristosa)

Identification: Ray florets golden yellow, well developed, flower, as a whole, conspicuous. Seeds (achenes) with a papery margin. Leaflike bracts below flower 8 to 10 in number with outer bracts shorter than inner bracts. Leaves divided into a number of dentate leaflets. Plant between 1 and 4 feet in height.

Distribution: Southeastern Canada and the eastern United States from Georgia to Texas.

Habitat: Tickseed Sunflower is found along roadsides and in waste fields.

Flowering period: August to October.

Tickseed Sunflower (Bidens aristosa)

Similar Species:

Crowned Beggar Ticks (Bidens coronata)

Bidens polylepis (not treated here) is nearly identical to Tickseed Sunflower, but the outer leaf-like bracts of the flower are longer than the inner bracts.

Similar Species