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
Not EvaluatedConservation statusIUCN Red List categoriesLCNTVUENCREWEXNot Evaluated — not placed on the risk ladderRed 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
Size / weightNot available
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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