Plant · GBIF taxon 5391861
White Beggarticks
Bidens albaAlso known as Shepherd's Needles, Spanish Needles, Butterfly Needles
White beggarticks carpet sunny clearings and roadsides with daisy-like blossoms featuring bright white ray petals around a vivid yellow center disk. Plants bloom continuously throughout the year in warm climates, serving as a critical nectar source for honeybees, native pollinators, and butterflies. Each pollinated flower head quickly develops into a dense cluster of dark, needle-like seeds equipped with tiny hooked barbs that hitch rides on passing animals and human clothing.
WildflowerPollinator MagnetWeedy
—observations
—countries
—peak records
Least ConcernConservation statusIUCN Red List categoriesLCNTVUENCREWEXLeast ConcernRed List categories, explained →
Diet & prey
- Sunlight
- Water
- Soil nutrients
Predators
- Caterpillars
- Herbivorous beetles
- Grazing livestock
ThreatsHerbicides and aggressive land development
HabitatsRoadsides, pastures, gardens, and disturbed grounds
Life spanAnnual or short-lived perennial
Classification
- OrderAsterales
- FamilyAsteraceae
- GenusBidens
- SpeciesBidens alba
Range data is not available yet.
Interaction riskLow
- Low
- Moderate
- High
- Very high
- Why interaction risk is low
- Safe to observe, though the barbed seeds easily cling to socks and pet fur.
Responsible observation
- Avoid Seed Clusters: Check pants and socks after walking through dense stands to avoid picking up hundreds of hooked seeds.
- Pollinator Watching: Visit flowering patches on sunny mornings to observe a wide variety of feeding bees and butterflies.
- Garden Weed Management: Remove unwanted plants before seed heads mature to prevent rapid spreading in cultivated beds.
Pollinator Andreas Trepte / CC BY-SA 2.5 · cc-by-sa
Frequent Visitor Sid Mosdell from New Zealand / CC BY 2.0 · cc-by
Close Relative Jeevan Jose, Kerala, India / CC BY-SA 4.0 · cc-by-sa
Close Relative (c) Andrew Conboy, some rights reserved (CC BY) · cc-by
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