E-Flora BC: Electronic Atlas of the Flora of British Columbia

Bidens tripartita L.
three-parted beggarticks (threelobe beggarticks)
Asteraceae (Aster family)

Introduction to Vascular Plants

Distribution of Bidens tripartita
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Species Information

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Illustration Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

General:
Annual herb from a fibrous root; stems erect, simple or branched, 20-100 cm tall.

Leaves:
Basal leaves lacking; stem leaves simple, or lowermost mostly lobed at the base, deeply incised or 3-lobed, saw-toothed, up to 20 cm long; stalks short, wing-margined.

Flowers:
Heads usually discoid; involucres 1-3 cm tall; involucral bracts linear, spreading, outer ones 1-3 cm long, inner ones 7-8 mm long; ray flowers usually lacking; disk flowers about 3 mm long.

Fruits:
Achenes wedge-shaped, outer ones 3.5-4 mm long, 2-3 angled, inner ones 5-8 mm long, 4-angled; barbs of the angles ascending below, reflexed above; pappus awns usually 4, 1-3.6 mm long.

Notes:
Bidens connata Muhl. ex Willd., native to E North America, has been collected in a cranberry bog in Richmond. It is closely related to B. tripartita.

Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

USDA Species Characteristics

Flower Colour:
Yellow

Blooming Period:
Late Summer

Fruit/Seed characteristics:
Colour: Brown
Present over the Fall

Source: The USDA

Key to the Species and Taxonomic Notes

The following three Bidens species are most easily confused.

1. Ray florets absent ........................ Bidens tripartita

1. Ray florets present, yellow ............................. 2

2. Summit of mature achenes convex and cartilaginous, heads nodding, fruiting heads on pressed specimens spherical, leaves strap-like and never deeply three-lobed ........................... Bidens cernua

2. Summit of mature achenes flat or concave, not cartilaginous, heads erect, fruiting heads on pressed specimens hemispherical, leaves not strap-like, often three-lobed.......................................... Bidens amplissima

Source:

Modifed from Ganders, Fred, Rose Klinkenberg and Brian Klinkenberg. 2002. British Columbia loses an endemic species: Bidens amplissima (Asteraceae) also occurs in Washington State. Botanical Electronic News 293.

Habitat / Range

Moist to wet ditches and ponds in the lowland zone; rare in SW BC, known only from the lower Fraser Valley; introduced from E. North America and Europe.

Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Climate

The climate type for this species, as reported in the: "British Columbia plant species codes and selected attributes. Version 6 Database" (Meidinger et al. 2008), is not evaluated, unknown or variable.

Status Information

Origin Status	Provincial Status	BC List (Red Blue List)	COSEWIC
Exotic	SNA	Exotic	Not Listed

BC Ministry of Environment: BC Species and Ecosystems Explorer, the authoritative source for conservation information in British Columbia.

Synonyms and Alternate Names

Bidens acuta (Wieg.) Britt.
Bidens comosa (A. Gray) Wiegand

Taxonomic and Nomenclatural Links

Flora North America treatment for Asteraceae
Flora North America treatment for Bidens tripartita
Genetic information (NCBI Taxonomy Database)
International Plant Names Index
Taxonomic Information from the World Flora Online
Integrated Taxonomic Information System

Additional Range and Status Information Links

Burke Museum of Natural History (Washington State records)
CalFlora
Consortium of Pacific Northwest Herbaria records
Jepson Interchange
NatureServe Explorer
USDA

Additional Photo Sources

UBC Herbarium Scanned Collection Record
Images From CalPhoto
UT Austin's Native Plant Database
Google Image Search
Flickr Image Search

General References

Google Scholar Search
Family References
General Botanical References for BC

Recommended citation: Author, Date. Page title. In Klinkenberg, Brian. (Editor) 2020. E-Flora BC: Electronic Atlas of the Plants of British Columbia [eflora.bc.ca]. Lab for Advanced Spatial Analysis, Department of Geography, University of British Columbia, Vancouver. [Accessed: 2024-05-02 11:44:36 PM ]

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